


Blizzard

by n1nastill



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Blood, Drug Use, F/F, Panic Attacks, Racism, Serious Injuries, Threats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-11 21:40:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 49,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3333824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/n1nastill/pseuds/n1nastill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During the Biannual Winter Games, snowboarder Korra became captivated by a certain United Republic athlete, the renowned Asami Sato.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

Korra couldn’t help but jump up from her seat in the stands, singing and swaying as the Water Nations national anthem played and the final members of her small team sat themselves in the stands. The music was loud, the atmosphere was amazing, Korra was more than stoked to be here at the Winter Games.

When the music quietened down and the brunette sat herself back in her seat she couldn’t help but look over at the United Republic team. They were all wearing black slim jackets with matching ski-pants, with golden trim and their emblem on their left lapel, but something was odd about them. She looked over the closest group to her; there was one guy with short black hair and the oddest eyebrows she had ever seen, wearing a red scarf. A younger, stockier guy next to him with a green scarf who was nudging the ribs of beautiful woman with thick black hair, green eyes and a maroon scarf. Clearly realising she was being watched by Korra, the girl looked up with a raised eyebrow causing the brunette to feel self-conscious and quickly turn away.

“Hey dad.” Korra looked to her father and coach who had been sitting by her side. “Why are the United Republic wearing different colour scarves?”

Leaning forward to look up at the neighbouring athletes, Tonraq smiled. “Well you see the United Republic was formed to unite the four nations. Those wearing red scarves are originally from the Fire Nation, green Earth Kingdom, yellow Air Nation, blue Water Nation and Gold are the ones born and bred in the Capital.”

Carefully pointing at the woman – who was talking to her teammates but still keept glancing over at Korra – she questioned her father once more. “Then why is she wearing a maroon scarf?”

Tonraq looked over just as she looked over, smiling he waved causing Korra to bury her head in her hands and groan. The woman smiled and waved back before flicking her hair and going back to her teammates. “I would say she is just sassy. Why do you like her?”

Nearly choking on air Korra put up her hands and shook her head. “What? No, I’ve only just glanced at her. So just – no I just – ”

Laughing, Korra’s father slapped her knee and went back to looking at the spectacle in front of them. “I’m just joking.”

Once her father stopped talking Korra tried to continue watching the ceremony but for whatever reason she couldn’t, every so often she would look at the girl in the maroon scarf until she looked back causing Korra to blush and look away.

* * *

 

Brushing her fingers through her chin-length hair, Korra took in a deep breath before putting on her helmet and pulling her goggles over her eyes. Checking her bindings one more time she put weight on her front leg while making the slightest of jumps, edging her board closer to the edge of the slope.

Taking in a deep breath the boarder edged herself over the edge, away from the prepared slope and down a marked off-piste run. Going from left to right in long sweeping turns, Korra avoided trees and the odd rock before she spotted a nice looking ridge. Anchoring her weight down, she slid over the large mound of snow before pushing herself off and crouching mid-air. At first Korra had been tempted to do a few tricks but her father would kill her if she was injured before her time-trial, so instead she had to make-do with powder snow and the cool air rushing past her face.

Suddenly Korra’s stomach dropped as she saw a person walking in her landing zone, using her stick to poke the ground. Gripping the front end of her board, Korra tried to move herself to the left as she shouted at the person below. “MOVE!”

The person looked up and quickly dived out of the way before Korra landed badly, her body falling and rolling several times before coming to a stop. Korra groaned while slowly wiggling each part of her body to make sure she was still in one piece.

“Shit, are you okay?”

Korra looked over at the person who she nearly hit; it was a woman – not just any woman,  _that_  woman from the opening ceremony yesterday. Groaning Korra tried to get herself up but was too deep in snow to move. “Yeah, no thanks to you. Do you mind helping me out?”

The woman nodded and quickly rushed over to Korra, pushing off a large pile of snow off her chest before releasing her feet from its bindings. “I’m sorry.”

Grunting, the brunette sat up and moved her now stiff neck, “Yeah, whatever.”

Grunting one more time, Korra pulled off her helmet and threw it to the ground. The Republic woman raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, “You…”

“Yes, what about me?” Korra said while trying to get herself onto her feet, sinking slightly in the deep snow.

“You were the girl who kept looking at me during the ceremony.”

Korra looked at the woman like she had never seen her before despite knowing exactly who she was. “Oh, was that you? I never noticed.”

She raised her eyebrow. “Bullshit, you were staring at me so much I bet you have my face memorised.”

“I wasn’t staring, but whatever. What I want to know is what the fuck was you doing standing under the ridge?” Korra huffed, picking up her snowboard and checking for possible damage. It was only her recreation board but still it would be expensive to replace if broken. Luckily it was fine.

Picking up her ski pole, the girl poked it through the snow several times. “I jumped off the ridge like you did and fell…one ski came off and now I can’t find it under this fucking snow.”

Korra couldn’t help but laugh. “That is why snowboards are more superior, can never lose them.”

“Yeah but you have to rely on skiers to pull you on a flat slope.” Korra rolled her eyes. “Now come on, you gonna help me? I helped you get out of the snow.”

Reluctantly Korra nodded before sticking her board upright in the snow. “Fine, but only because you asked so nicely.” She took one of the woman’s spare sticks and stared to poke in the snow. “I’m Korra by the way.”

“Asami.”

* * *

 

Sitting back in a lounge chair, Korra sighed before taking a quick sip of a hot chocolate. “So, what sport you competing in?”

Asami sat on a chair besides Korra, her hair loose on her shoulders and sunglasses masking her green eyes. “Skeleton, you?”

“Boarder Cross.” Asami laughed. “What’s so funny?”

Shrugging, Asami blew on her hot chocolate. “Nothing, just I kind of expected that…well that or halfpipe.”

Rolling her eyes Korra looked out onto the mountain. “Well I can’t exactly say I expected you to be doing the Skeleton.”

“And why not?”

“You just seem…I don’t know, not risky enough to do something so fast and dangerous.”

Turning over to look at Korra, her raised eyebrow peeking over her sunglasses, Asami scoffed. “Oh, so are you just going to ignore the fact that you found me off-piste, because we all know that’s not daring?”

Humming to herself, the brunette nodded. “Ha, yeah you’re right, sorry. So when if your first competition?”

“In four days, tomorrow I have practice runs then three days after we compete, you?”

“Uh…in like just over an hour, just some time-trials to figure out where to put us.”

Asami ran her fingers across her hot mug and chuckled to herself. “Then what the fuck are you doing on the piste? Shouldn’t you be preparing yourself?”

Putting down her hot chocolate Korra shook her head before sitting back in her chair. “Nah, I learnt the slope this morning and I’ve always found the more relaxed I am the better I do.”

“This your first games?”

Korra laughed, running her fingers through her hair before nodding, “yeah it is, I am like super stoked but super nervous ya know? Especially since I am the first female athlete from the Water Nation to compete in the boarder cross, it tends to be seen as a man’s sport.” Glancing over at Asami, she smiled. “What about you?”

Taking off her sunglasses, Asami shrugged while cleaning them with her scarf. “This is my second games; I first competed when I was seventeen and then took a bit of a break. Not gonna lie for a while I didn’t think I would be able to compete again.”

“Why not?”

“Well since my dad’s company is the one sponsoring our team, people thought the only reason I would be competing this time is because of him.”

Furrowing her brow, Korra looked at Asami with a confused look on her face. “What – I don’t get it…” As an answer Asami pointed at the Futures Industries logo on her right shoulder allowing the realisation to creep into Korra’s face. “Oh shit…you are Asami Sato…  _the_  Asami Sato! Shit…I didn’t realise…”

Laughing Asami put her hand up and shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about it Korra, I prefer it if people don’t know who I am.”

“So I’m guessing you managed to show the people on the committee whose boss, with like competing.”

“Oh yeah, just because my dad is the sponsor doesn’t mean I am incapable of racing, if that were the case I wouldn’t have gotten bronze last time.”

Sticking her tongue out, Korra shifted in her chair, “Bronze is nothing, I am going to get gold.”

A few seconds later Korra furrowed her brow, with a huff she pulled out her phone from her pocket as it vibrated. Leaning back in her chair, her head hitting the metal bar holding the fabric in place, the boarder groaned. “That is if I don’t miss the time-trials. Sorry Asami I gotta go.”

With a quick shrug Asami smiled. “No worries, I’ll talk to you later. And good luck.”

“Thanks.” With that Korra forced herself off her backside and made her way to her gear which had been sitting on the snow near-by the cafe. She knew she was late, not massively late, but late enough for her dad to kill her so she had to rush across the mountain.

Twenty minutes of fairly heavy boarding and one ski-lift later Korra was faced with a livid Tonraq. “Korra, where have you been?”

Almost keeling over, the boarder heaved while speaking, “I was just relaxing, you know – prepping for the trials.”

Taking hold of his daughters shoulders and forcing her to stand straight, he shook his head, “Korra, you are exhausted, this is no way to be before a race.”

Allowing herself to stand straight using her own strength Korra laughed and lightly slapped her father’s arm. “Don’t worry; I won’t be boarding for another twenty minutes so that’s enough time for me to get ready.” Tonraq raised his eyebrow. “Seriously dad, don’t worry it’ll be fine.”

Nodding Korra’s father took a step back before picking up a duffle bag and playfully throwing it at his daughter. “Right, so you better get changed because I don’t think the team will be too happy you boarding in anything other than team colours.”

Korra looked around the prep space for the boarders only to pout when she saw nowhere to get changed. She forgot that everyone else gets changed at the bottom of the ski-lift where there is a bathroom. For a moment Korra was tempted to take the lift down but she didn’t have enough time. With a shrug and a quick intake of breath she took her jacket off, throwing it on the ground before taking off her boots, standing on her jacket and quickly undressing. Despite her still wearing a thermal under-layer the other athletes couldn’t help but let their jaws drop when they watched Korra. Stopping midway through dressing, the boarder looked up at all those watching her before laughing, “What? It’s not that cold!” Saying that quickly caused the athletes to look away while she pulled on her trousers.

Once fully dressed Korra patted herself jacket down and started to do little stretches. It felt odd for her to be wearing something other than her normal snow-wear, but it was a good odd. Being able to say she wears the national emblem on her the back of her light-blue jacket because she part of a team made her heart fill with pride, she was in the games and she was going to win this.

“Korra, you’re up.”

Korra nodded at her dad before making her way to the starting gate. Tugging on her brown mittens and adjusting her goggles, she took in a deep breath and took hold of the rail either side of her. “You can do this Korra.”

Closing her eyes she listened to the beeping, and then she was off. Pushing herself out of the gate, Korra’s heart started to pound at a uncountable rate, the landscape around her became a blur and all she focused on was getting down to the bottom as fast as possible. As she came up to the penultimate jump, Korra prepared herself knowing that within meters of her landing she would have to make a sharp right. Her knees groaned with the hard landing before they were put under more strain as she only just made the turn. Crouching slightly she tried to maintain speed on the rolls before the final turn and largest of the jumps. “Come on Korra!” She shouted to herself as she left the comfort of the snow for the final time and planned to make her landing. With a final push she forced her board forward across the line and was greeted by a few sparse cheers and claps by the few people watching.

Grinding to a halt, Korra quickly looked up to the board to see her time. She was placed third so far. Even though she knows her time doesn’t make a difference to the medals she knows it means she will be in good standing for the knock-out rounds that start in a few days.

With a quick release of her bindings Korra walked over to her dad who had taken the lift down to see her. “Third, not bad, but what was up with that landing?”

“Which one?” Korra knew which one.

“On the second-to-last jump, you nearly missed the turn.”

Korra shrugged, pulling off her gloves and helmet. “Just need to remember to stay on the inside before I hit the top.”

Smiling, Tonraq took his daughters board as they made their way back to the lift, “Just one more run to go and you are good to go back to the village.”

* * *

 

Leaning against the barriers at the finish line, Asami smiled as she watched Korra in the distance. She hadn’t planned on watching Korra do some runs but she didn’t have much else to do, so she thought why not? Glancing over at the board, Asami noted that this was the boarders last run and she needed at least a second off her previous time to get a decent spot at the start-line for the knock-out rounds. She admits she doesn’t know a huge amount when it comes to boarder cross, but that is what the internet is for.

As the sun blinds her slightly, Asami squints and pulls her sunglasses down from her head while looking back at the slope, Korra coming ever closer. As the girl from the Water Nation comes over the final jump Asami’s stomach drops. Despite being a huge fan of speed Asami has never been a fan of heights – hence the reason she crashed when going over that ridge – and seeing Korra soaring through the air for a few moments made her feel uneasy.

Asami only let out the breath she had been holding when Korra landed firmly and slid quickly past the finish, pumping her fist through the air. As Korra came closer it took her a few seconds to see Asami and quickly came to a halt beside the barrier. Pulling off her brown and white helmet Korra gave Asami a crooked smile, “Didn’t expect you to be here.”

With a slight chuckle Asami leant against the barrier and glanced up at the slope before back to Korra. “I thought I would see how the other half live.”

Shaking her head in disbelief Korra laughed, “Well you will probably see us snow lovers have much more fun than you ice lot.”

Asami rolled her eyes for a moment before her face dropped, without warning Asami dropped behind the padded barrier as a wave of snow hit Korra. Squealing with shock, Korra turned back as Asami slowly lifted herself up. There stood an Earth Kingdom snowboarder pulling her goggles ups with a smirk on her face.

“You think this is funny?” The girl with the beauty mark on her right cheek ignored Korra completely, her eyes glancing over to the scoreboard before heading over to the exit. “Hey, hey don’t walk away from me!”

Before Korra had the chance to undo her bindings Asami took hold of her arm, “Korra, don’t bother…”

Sighing the boarder threw her head forward, trying to remove the snow that had fallen down her neck, “That was so not cool.”

“Actually I reckon it was cool, very cool.” Asami said trying to hold back a laugh.

“You know what I mean – ”

“Korra.” Her father interrupted, quickly walking over next to Asami. “I’ve been looking for you; I wanted to tell you that you did great…” He takes a quick glance at Asami with a raised eyebrow, he is sure he knows her from somewhere. “Who’s this?”

Korra groaned out ‘dad’ in embarrassment as she climbed over the barrier and Asami extended her hand to Tonraq. “I’m Asami.”

Taking Asami’s hand Tonraq introduced himself while staring at her black and maroon personal ski-outfit, and then when he saw the scarf it hit him. “I remember you, the girl at the opening ceremony…you are from the United Republic, making friends with the enemy Korra?”

Laughing, Asami ran her fingers through her hair. “Oh I am hardly the enemy Sir, I do Skeleton.”

With a proud smile to his daughter – who had managed to squeeze herself between the two taller adults – Tonraq patted her head. “Sir? I like her…now I’ll leave you two alone. Remember Korra, just because you have finished for the day does not mean you can eat junk.”

“I know dad.” Korra rolled her eyes as her dad walked away with her board. Glancing over at Asami who had a large grin, Korra gave out a nervous laugh. “You do know he’s joking right? He doesn’t see you as the enemy, he is all for the spirit of the games bringing everyone together.”

Picking up her skis Asami gave a genuine smile as the two women walked to the gondola to go back to the athlete’s village. “No it’s alright, your dad seems nice.”

The two women walked in silence until they arrive on the gondola, leaning back against the vertical rail Korra glanced at Asami’s scarf. Running her gloved hand against the back of her neck, Korra spoke. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, why do you wear a maroon scarf?”

Looking down at the woollen scarf around her neck, Asami ran her fingers across it. “Oh, it is the only part of our uniform that we are expected to wear and it is this colour because my family are originally from the Fire Nation.”

“Yeah, but normally people from there wear red not maroon…”

Asami thought for a moment as to why she wore this colour and ended up shrugging. “Well I guess I wear maroon more because it is a nicer colour.”

“So my dad was right.” Korra laughed out as she made her way out of the gondola and back into the cold mountain air.

Quickly rushing after Korra, Asami couldn’t help but raise her eyebrow in slight annoyance. “With what?”

Taking a quick few steps forward Korra spun on her heel before continuing to walk backwards, her hands in her pockets and a smirk on her face. “You wear it because you are sassy.”

Scoffing, Asami stopped, crossed her arms and cocked her hip. “I am not sassy.”

Korra watched as two United Republic athletes came up behind Asami, it took her a few moments but she realised it was the athletes that had sat beside her on the opening ceremony. “I beg to differ.” Said the taller man in a flat – but possibly sarcastic, Korra couldn’t tell – tone.

Moving so she is facing both Korra and her two teammates Asami smiled with flustered cheeks. “What you two doing here?” Korra watched with a raised eyebrow between Asami and her friend, something seemed odd.

“Just finished practice…” The taller guy looked over at Korra with a slight smile and extended his hand, which she was partially reluctant to take. “I’m Mako and this is my brother Bolin…we are teammates of Asami.” He looked down at her Water Nation jacket but said nothing.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Korra. What sport are you competing in?”

“Ice hockey.” Bolin interrupted with a big smile, which caused his brother to roll his eyes.

“So I guess you don’t value your teeth.” Korra laughed out while tucking her hands into her jacket pockets, her fingers playing with her lift-pass.

“I don’t, Mako does, and that is why I am surprised he was picked for the team.”

Putting his arm around his brother’s neck, Mako gave Bolin a serious look with a raise of his oddly shaped eyebrows. “Seriously Bolin? Is that anyway to talk to your Captain?”

Acting like he didn’t hear Mako, Bolin continued to talk to Korra while pulling himself from his brother’s grasp. “So what do you do Korra?”

Slowly walking ahead with Bolin, Korra couldn’t help but smile, if there is one thing she likes its friendly people like Bolin. “Boarder cross, just finished the time-trials.”

Bolin’s eyes lit up and he started to walk faster while almost bouncing on the balls of his feet. Neither Bolin or Korra noticed at first that Asami and Mako were a few meters behind them, just talking to each other rather than joining in the conversation. “Sweet, I love watching boarder cross! Tell me Korra, how does it work? Like, how do several races between four people dwindle down to the three medallists?”

Taking her hands out of her pockets, Korra ran her fingers through her bob while laughing. “You love boarder cross but you have no idea how the race works? Let me guess, you just love watching the crashes.”

“Guilty.” Bolin said with a sad face and a sadder tone.

Laughing, Korra shook her head. “Well it’s pretty simple, the first two to pass the finish line are brought to the next race, and we just keep racing until there are four left, then we battle it out for the medals.” Korra looks over to Asami who is talking to Mako a few steps behind with a blush on her cheeks.

“Battle is pretty accurate…Korra you alright?”

Snapping out of her gaze, Korra quickly looked back at Bolin who looked slightly worried and confused. “What? Oh yeah, fine, sorry, just zoned out for a second.”

* * *

 

“So what’s with you hanging out with a Water athlete?” Mako almost spat out as she tried to get Asami to look at him rather than Korra who was walking with Bolin.

“What? Korra is pretty cool and funny, and it’s not like I am going against her in the games. We can be friends.”

Mako crossed his arms, he was far from convinced. “Friends? Are you sure?”

“Oh my spirits Mako, Korra and I met like a couple of hours ago, we are just friends.” Asami did all she could to keep her voice down and her eyes from wandering over to Korra.

“Well just remembered what happened last time you became friends with someone during a game.”

Asai rolled her eyes. “Yeah I know, you broke my heart, no need to remind me.”

She was about to step away when Mako took hold of her arm, causing her to glare at him. “I just mean be careful.”

“Mako I am a grown woman, I am more than capable of looking after myself.” Turning away from Mako, Asami made her way to Korra with a bright smile before putting her arm across her shoulder. “Korra, let’s go get a drink, Mako and Bolin have somewhere to be.”

“We do?” Bolin asked to his brother.

Mako said nothing at first, instead rubbing the back of his neck before nodding. “Uh yeah, we need to go to the spa to wind down after training.”

The four athletes say their goodbyes before going their separate ways. Asami and Korra walked for another five minutes before reaching the bar and sitting themselves in a little booth. Asami went to get drinks, a coke for Korra and a sparkling water for herself before they finally got to fully relax.

“What were you and Mako talking about?” Korra felt proud of herself, she waited a whole ten minutes before asking. Asami on the other hand was not as proud of her patience, if she had a choice she would not speak about Mako. He was a nice guy, hell she dated him a few years ago, but she wasn’t in the mood to explain all that to Korra.

Shrugging Asami swallowed her drink before settling it down on the slightly sticky table. “Doesn’t matter, just he is being paranoid that’s all.”

Korra watched as Asami’s face dropped. Leaning forward the brunette placed a hand lightly on Asami’s, her hand was so soft and delicate, far from the roughness of Korra’s. “Hey, are you okay?”

At first Asami says nothing, just shrugs until she looked up at Korra’s ice blue eyes and concerned smile. “I’m fine, thanks it’s just….I dunno, he was just being a bit of a dick.”

With a smile Korra sat back and played with the straw in her glass. “Most men are dicks, that’s why I am so happy to be bi.”

Asami felt surprised at Korra’s announcement, she never expected someone to be so open about their sexuality especially when knowing someone for only a couple of hours. She doesn’t say anything back to that, she feels like she should say ‘me too’ but the words don’t leave her mouth, instead she settles with a faint chuckle.

It took a few minutes but eventually the pair got back into a full conversation, laughing and joking with each other while on occasion Asami flipped her hair – which caused Korra’s heart to melt slightly. In retaliation to this obviously flirting hair flip, Korra flipped her own hair dramatically which caused Asami to almost snort out her water. “Korra, you don’t have enough hair for that.”

With a cute pout Korra pats her hair as if Asami’s words had just hurt it. “It’s not the hair length that counts, it’s the sass, and despite this strong demeanour my sass out classes yours.”

“Really?”

“Yup, no contest.”

Asami was about to open her mouth to tell her to prove it when a tall woman with black hair and a bad attitude came over to their table. Both girls recognised her immediately thanks to the beauty mark on her cheek and the way her back remained as ridged as a steel girder. She looked over the pair before settling her glances on Korra. “Hey you, newbie.”

Korra sat back against the booth and raised her eyebrow. “Can I help you?”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Yeah, the douche that covered me in snow at the trials.”

Asami smiled when she noticed the woman’s eyebrow twitch but was also impressed with how she kept her calm. “The name’s Kuvira, I am three times gold medallist.”

“Good for you.” Korra rolled her eyes and looked at Asami as to say ‘seriously?’ which of course made Asami laugh.

Leaning forward, Kuvira placed her hands on the table so she was eyelevel with Korra. “I saw how you board and I have to say…you are not good enough to make it in this competition.”

Korra smirked. “What is this, your poor attempt to intimidate me?”

“No, I would never try and intimidate a fellow athlete, but I hope you are prepared to let your tribe down.”

Korra saw red. Standing up quickly, the brunette took hold of Kuvira’s hoodie, pulling her so close they were practically kissing. “What the fuck did you say?”

Kuvira didn’t back down, instead this display of anger fuelled her on. “You heard me; your people are nothing more than a tribe, nothing more than pathetic penguin-fuckers. And you’re friend here?” Kuvira looked over Asami with a proud smile. “Well I hope your ancestors are happy that you betrayed your Nation and helped to destroy mine.”

Tightening her grip on Kuvira’s hoodie for a moment, Korra thrust her back into a nearby column causing the whole bar to look at the pair of boarder. “That’s it, you, me, outside, right now!”

Asami wasted no time to come behind Korra, placing a calm hand on her shoulder and speaking in a soothing voice. “Korra, Korra, calm down.”

For a few moments Asami was worried Korra wasn’t going to let her go, instead actually taking her outside and beating the living crap out of her. But as the brunette took some deep breaths she nodded and let Kuvira go.

Shrugging her shoulders to adjust her hoodie Kuvira chuckled before making her way through the bar. “See you on the slopes.”

Korra waited until she heard the door slam before she picked up her glass of coke and threw it against the column. “Fucking freckled dick!” she shouted in anger.

Asami quickly crouched down slightly so she was looking into Korra’s eyes while her hands rubbed her arms. “Korra, calm down and breathe.”

“But she – ”

“I know, but it is not worth punching her and getting disqualified over it. You just need to make sure you bring your anger onto the slopes and destroy her.”

Korra sighed and took a step back. “You’re right.”

With a smirk Asami sat back down with Korra. “Of course I’m right, now do you want to have some dinner?”

“Dinner? It’s a bit early.”

Picking up the menu Asami shrugged. “Yeah but I have practice at 7am tomorrow which means early bedtime for me.”

Taking her own menu Korra started to scan down the options, if there was one thing she did know is that food cures all. “You’re right, Pizza?”

“I was more thinking something healthy.”

“Pizza is healthy!”

Looking over her menu at Korra, Asami couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “It’s so obvious you don’t compete in a sport that requires a skin-tight outfit.”

* * *

 

Two days later came the knock-out rounds and luckily for Korra they went by with little trouble except for the odd shove by some over eager boarders, but still within regulation. Korra was also proud of herself on managing to stay on her board when a certain angry Fire Nation boarder called P’Li tried to slam her into the net, causing P’Li to fall instead. But the knock-outs where nothing compared to what was to come. She knew as she rose through the ranks Korra would eventually have to face Kuvira who, at the moment was playing on the edge of what physical contact was deemed acceptable during racing. It was not going to be easy but Korra felt confident, she had her parents down there watching her, and she even had Asami there. They had been hanging out a lot which was cool because Korra never really had a friend before and Asami was most definitely the best kind of first friend, awesome and sexily sassy.

“Welcome to the women’s boarder cross semi-finals! Are you all excited?” A cheer came from the crowd which caused Korra to jump on her heels before stepping into her bindings. “You should be, we can promise you a great day of boarding, speed and crashes!”

As the cheer from the crowd became louder at the thought of crashes, Asami’s stomach dropped. “I am starting to like this sport less and less.”

Tonraq laughed at the young athlete as she played with the hem of her sleeve nervously. “Oh don’t worry Asami, it’s just a bit of fun and don’t forget your sport is far from tame.”

The camera panned across the waiting athletes until it came to Kuvira which caused Asami’s anger to build. “I know but the only person responsible for us crashing is ourselves, not other people who seem to have a personal vendetta against you for no reason.”

Back at the starting line, Kuvira looked over at Korra with a sly smirk. “Ready to lose penguin-fucker?”

Korra smiled. “Funny, I was going to ask you the same question.”

“Atheletes to your gates.”

The four boarders shuffled up to their starting gates before putting their final foot in the bindings and making last preparations. “Hey…Korra right?”

Korra looked over to her left at girl with green eyes, a sweet smile and an Air Nation uniform but a green scarf. “Yeah?”

The girl extended her fist and smiled. “I’m Opal; I just wanted to wish you good luck.”

“You too.” Korra smiled back, touching the athlete’s fist with her own before they looked forward once again, pulled their goggles over their eyes and their gum shields in their mouths.

First beep came; Korra gripped the horizontal pole by her side, pulling herself as low down as possible.

Second beep, her heart was pounding and her eyes were fixed on the first roller that came after the gate.

Third beep, gate falls down, Korra pulls herself out with a grunt.

Even at the top of the mountain, with the sound of board against compacted snow filling the air Korra could still hear the cheers of the crowd and for a second she was convinced she could hear the cheers of Asami.

Bearing down, Korra took the first bank to the left before hitting another three rollers. She was second; she could see Opal ahead while she was well aware Kuvira was behind. Making a tight right, Korra was able to undertake Opal before coming up to the penultimate jump. She was in the perfect position.

* * *

 

Eveything happened so quickly, as Korra was in mid-air she saw Kuvira coming up to her right with the corner of her eye. The Earth Kingdom athlete took hold of Korra’s jacket before she rammed her shoulder into her ribs. Immediately she felt a searing pain and crack vibrate through her body, which distracted her long enough to not realise that once she lands she would fail to make the sharp turn. As the boarders landed together Kuvira shoved Korra once more, causing her to tumble and slam into the red netting but she couldn’t stop, Korra kept rolling, and the nets captured her like a helpless fish.

The crowd wanted a crash, but this one was hard, instead of cheers it forced a series of gasps from the spectators. Asami’s heart sank and she quickly made a move to climb over the barriers. “Korra!”

Tonraq grabbed her arm, stopping Asami in her tracks. “Asami, no, there is nothing you can do.”

“But what if she’s hurt?”

“Then the medics will look after her…come on, let’s get out of the crowd and wait for her to come down.” Asami bit her lip then reluctantly nodded before walking with Tonraq and his wife through the now silent crowd.

When the world stop spinning Korra tried to move but couldn’t, every time she did she felt her body throb and a pole push against her back. “Fuck,” Korra whimpered in pain which in turn caused her more pain and breathing was starting to become impossible.

As Korra laid there she listened to the distinct sound of something dripping on the snow, she tried to move to see what was causing it but it only caused the pole behind her to push deeper. Carefully Korra moved her hand behind her, gripping the pole and trying to pull it from her back, but she couldn’t, it wasn’t just poking her it was in her. Moving her hand back Korra examined the crimson blood on her brown mitten, she couldn’t believe what was happening.

It felt like it took forever for the medic crew to come over to her, armed with first-aid kits and a stretcher. “Are you okay?”

“Oh just fine – oww.” She whimpered out with difficult breaths.

It took several minutes for the medics to cut through the nets to access Korra but when they did a series of gasps filled the air. Korra wasn’t aware just how bad her injuries were until they collared her and pulled her onto the backboard on her side. She wanted to ask what was happening but the pain was too much for her to bear. One of the medics brushed her hand against Korra’s cheek as they pulled her into the stretcher, “Korra, I’m Kya the lead doctor, can you hear me?”

Korra grunted. “Korra you had a nasty fall but everything is going to be okay, we just need to get you to the hospital. Alright?”

Korra grunted again while mentally screaming profanities with each little movement that caused her pain. As they skied down to the waiting ambulance Korra had to hold back tears when the pole – which she believed was being held by one of the medics – kept moving.

Tonraq was the first to see the ambulance and rushed over to wait for his daughter while Asami and his wife Senna pushed through the crowd behind. As Asami stepped out into a space the sight of Kuvira her sights and anger filled her chest. Without a second thought Asami stormed over towards the older woman with her fists clenched. “You fucker!”

“Asami.” Senna said as she rushed after Asami, but was basically ignored.

With a pleased smile, Kuvira put her hands behind her back. “Oh, is something the matter?”

Asami stepped closer, her chest against Kuvira. “Don’t play dumb, you know what you did!”

Taking a step back Kuvira laughed. “All I did was race; I can’t help it if your girlfriend can’t keep on her feet.”

“You fucking – ” Raising her fist Asami went to punch the boarder across the face until she felt and hand grasp around her wrist.

Looking down she saw Senna with hurt blue eyes – the same eyes as Korra – and a frown on her face. “Asami, don’t!”

Dropping her fist, Asami pulled away from Senna’s grasp and started to make her way over to the ambulance.

What an awful start to a friendship.


	2. Chapter 2

Taking in a deep breath, Kuvira played with the ends of her loose hair before glancing up at the table of what she would describe as, old people who have nothing better to do than waste her time. “Kuvira. I am Tenzin, head of the Biannual Winter Games athlete’s board, and here we have Raiko, Tarrlok, I believe you know Suyin.”

Suyin, a woman with greying hair and a gentle smile nodded before Tenzin gestured over to the screen to show an older man with a beard and a contrasting smile. “And this is Hiroshi Sato, who due to work commitments is unable to make it.” Kuvira crossed her arms and let her gazes flit between the members of the board before letting out another breath, this time much louder in order to make a point.

Ignoring this and instead opting to pick up several pieces of paper, Tenzin passed them out to the board before looking back at the Earth Nations snowboarder. “We asked you to come to this meeting today to discuss the accident during the final of the Women’s snowboard cross involving a…Korra from the Water Nation.”

“Kuvira, we have had a look at the replay of several cameras at several angles, but we would like to hear what you believe happened.” Said Raiko with a much more judgemental tone behind his voice than Tenzin. Kuvira never liked people from the Air Nation – then again she had never been fond of any nation other than the Earth Kingdom – but with the way Tenzin spoke she felt like he was the lesser of many evils.

Straightening her spine, Kuvira exhaled before locking her sights onto the bald man before her. “Would it matter what I say? Like you said, you already looked at the replay so I would hazard a guess that you already have a clear idea on what had happened.”

“For the record we need to hear all accounts on what had happened.”

“Did you ask Korra?” Kuvira almost spat out.

Tenzin glanced over at Tarrlok for a moment before going back to Kuvria. “Currently Korra is having life-saving surgery so we will be unable to get her side for a while – if at all.”

Kurvira did all she could to hold back her smirk and Suyin could see this. “Kuvria.” Suyin started, her body shifting uncomfortably in her chair. “Do you realise what a serious situation you are in? You caused a very serious crash.”

“Su you know this sport better than most. You are also well aware that often there is physical contact, some more extreme than others. I believe if you look closely I did nothing wrong, I simply put my arm out in order to avoid coming in full body contact with her…nothing more. If I had not done so I would have been the one to fall, I was simply protecting myself like others would in my situation.” Kuvira now was unable to hold back her smirk as she saw the older woman become flustered and slam her hands against the table.

“That is a lie Kuvira and you know it!”

“Su, calm down.” The woman looked over at Tenzin in anger before eventually nodding and sitting herself back down. “Kuvira, before any further investigations go ahead we would like to inform you that if this matter is not dealt with before the end of the games you will be expected to remain here until it has been. Do you understand?”

The boarder felt her blood coming close to the boil but instead of acting out she simply nodded. “Very well, if that is what is expected then I will remain in the village.”

“Actually Tenzin, we have enough evidence right now to do some form action against Kuvira.” Her heart sunk and her eyes wandered over the Hiroshi Sato, who had the slightest smile on the corner of his mouth. Kuvira had heard of him, he was the man who created weapons before sending them over to the Earth Kingdom almost sparking off a Civil War…he was a bastard and she knew from that moment things were not going to go well.

“And what evidence is that Hiroshi?”

Not saying anything at first, Hiroshi vanished off the screen and was replaced by a video. And there it was, a series of security footage of Kuvria threatening not only Korra, but other members of the Water Nation and United Republic teams of varying disciplines.

If Kuvira was totally honest with herself she couldn’t fully remember any of that, she could hardly even remember the race and the accident. She had been high on prescription painkillers but she knew she couldn’t tell that to the board.

Tenzin looked away from the screen and sighed deeply. “Right Kuvira…with looking at the new evidence we have before us I am sad to say that we will have to strip you of your medal.”

“What?” Kuvira almost shouted out, her fingers gripping into the table.

“What we saw in those videos goes against the conduct of the games and therefore you are not seen as an acceptable athlete and will have the medal you won today taken from you.”

“You can’t do that!” Kuvira stood up, her fists slamming against the desk in anger. Her eyes moved over to Hiroshi on the screen whose smile became a clear smirk. That man was out to destroy everything that wasn’t Fire Nation property.

“We can and we have…but do not think that this is over, if we conclude that you deliberately caused Korra to fall then there will be more serious action taken against you.” Tenzin exhaled. “You may leave.”

With that the meeting was over – for now.

* * *

 

Slowly Korra opened her eyes; she was in the hospital with a worried mother and father sat by her side. Furrowing her brow in confusion Korra looked around the beige room, she must have passed out on the way to the ambulance because she couldn’t remember arriving at the hospital. “Mom?” the brunette groaned out, her voice hoarse and her lips swollen.

Senna looked up with worry and quickly took her daughters hand, “Korra, you’re awake…hi.”

“What – what happened?” Breathing was still difficult for her.

“You had an accident…you’ve been out for a while.” Tonraq replied, running his hand over his wife’s shoulders. He glanced up at the window to the corridor before giving his wife a little squeeze. “Senna, let’s go and get the nurse.”

Korra’s mother nodded and stood before giving her daughter an encouraging smile. Korra watched as her parents left the room and spoke to someone outside who was being obscured by the blind. When her parents left down the corridor Asami walked in with a smile on her face but worry in her eyes. “Hi.” She said quietly, sitting down next to Korra and taking her hand.

“Hi.” Korra said back with a poor attempt at a crooked smile. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”

“I’ve been pacing up and down the corridor since they brought you out of theatre four hours ago. Do you know what happened?”

Korra shook her head, she partially wanted to know what had happened but at that moment all she could think about was Asami being there, waiting for over four hours.

She looked down at the external fixator over her right forearm and hand and pouted slightly. “I’m – I’m guessing I broke my arm.”

Asami laughed slightly. “A little more than that. You shattered your arm, right knee and femur, so they had to be pinned. You also broke three ribs and the pole in your back punctured your lung quite badly.” Biting her lip to stop a tear Asami tried to think a little more positive, she knew being sad wouldn’t help Korra. “You really go all out don’t you?”

For a moment Korra laughed but then it turned into a slight cough and groan as her body reminded her about her broken ribs and punctured lung. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For not telling me what a stupid sport boarder cross is.”

Sitting back and crossing her legs, Asami flicked her hair back, “Oh don’t worry Korra, the moment you are healed there will be plenty of I told you so’s.”

“Can’t wait.” Sarcasm, the clear indicator that Korra was alright, banged up but alright.

* * *

 

Slowly Korra opened her eyes, confused as to when she fell back to sleep. Squinting she took in the bright sights of her room, including Asami who was still sat by her bedside.

“Morning sleepyhead.”

Korra looked to the window that looked out onto the mountain to see the sun rising. Turning back to Asami, who was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday and her hair up in a bun, she smiled slightly. “You still here?” She groaned internally when she realised how bad that sounded but clearly Asami didn’t mind.

“Of course I’m here; I am not planning on leaving you until you are fit and healthy.”

For a moment Korra felt a need to sit herself up fully until she remembered she couldn’t move without causing an abnormal amount of pain. “But – but don’t you have the final today?”

Shifting herself closer Korra smiled slightly, Asami didn’t have make-up on but she still looked beautiful, she even had a small sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks which Korra guessed get covered up by foundation. “Yeah, but it’s no big deal. I would rather pull out and stay here with you.”

Lifting up her good arm, Korra lightly flicked Asami’s forehead. “Asami that is just stupid.”

“Excuse me?” Asami sat back, crossing her arms and raising and eyebrow.

“I am in a hospital; there are doctors, nurses and my  _mom_  looking after me. You can leave me alone for a couple of hours and win your fucking race.”

For a moment Asami did nothing, only watched Korra until a pout formed on Asami’s – rarely – bare lips. “But I wanted you to be there and watch me…since ya know – anyway, I wanted you to be there.” Asami looked down and blushed, feeling like a child.

“I know and I really wanted to see you in your skin-tight outfit but please Asami, don’t pass up on this opportunity. Anyway, I can watch it live on the TV…if I manage to stay awake.”

“Alright, fine, but if anything happens your parents better phone me.”

Korra laughed and nodded. “Don’t worry.”

* * *

 

For the rest of the day Korra was pretty much left alone and bored, like really  _really_  bored, there are only so many times a girl can count the ceiling tiles and beg the nurse to remove her chest drain. She did have a visit from some people in association with the board of athletes asking for her side of the story – not that she remembered much – but that was hardly thrilling.

However  _eventually_  after what felt like more than five hours, Asami finally came through the door, wearing her black and gold skeleton outfit that hugged her slender yet muscular frame perfectly. Korra tried not to bite her lip but it was pointless, Asami looked amazing. “Oh wow… that is really…tight.”

“You like it?” Asami said teasingly as she gave Korra a quick twirl.

“I do – not sure how I feel about other people seeing you in it, but wow.” Only when the words came out of her mouth did Korra realise what she said. Feeling embarrassed, Korra dropped her gaze from Asami only to see something shining around her neck. Looking back up her jaw dropped. “Wait…is that?”

Running her fingers across the circular gold medal, Asami nodded. “A gold medal? Yes it is.”

“Congratulations! If I could get up and hug you I would.”

“Don’t worry…” Coming closer to Korra’s bed, Asami sat herself on the bed and ran her finger across Korra’s lip. “You can kiss me instead.”

In less than one breath Korra’s face became flushed and suddenly breathing became hard, and it wasn’t because of her lung or ribs. “I uh – umm – well uh, I guess we – uh…”

Laughing, Asami put her hand on top of Korra’s and shook her head. “Wow, Korra calm down I was just joking.”

“You were?”

“Well sure…I mean partially, I mean no…” Asami shrugged and looked down at the tiled floor, a blush slowly creeping up her cheeks. “You see despite not knowing you long I like you Korra. Seeing you here breaks my heart and the thought of kissing you right now seems wrong because, I dunno, it feels like I would be taking advantage of you in your bedridden state.”

“Asami, I think we have gone past the whole ‘not knowing each other for long’, you have seen the nurse change my pee bag.” Korra took Asami’s hand and ran her thumb along its back. “And as for taking advantage of me you wouldn’t….because I want to kiss you too.”

“Well if that’s the case I think you need to work for your kiss.”

“Excuse me?”

Without missing a beat, Asami threw herself off the bed and quickly crossed her arms and cocked her hip. “You heard me…only when you are capable of walking to me do you get a kiss.”

“That is cruel.” With a grunt Korra threw her head back into the pillow.

“No Korra, it is an incentive.”

“Well maybe we should kiss now so I know it is worthy incentive.”

“Cheeky.” Asami places a light kiss on Korra’s nose before walking towards the door. “I better go back to the village and get showered and dressed, I don’t think it is appropriate to wear this for the rest of the day.”

Cocking her head at Asami, Korra smirks. “Oh I don’t know…makes your ass look nice.”

“Pervert.”

“But you still love me.”

Rolling her eyes Asami stands by the door, her fingers running across the door handle. “Walk again and get a kiss, board again and you might just find out how I really feel about you. See you later.”

Korra counted to forty-five until she called out at the top of her lungs. “Nurse nurse nurse!” One of the nurses came rushing through thinking there was an emergency, until she saw Korra laid there with a goofy grin on her face.

“What?” The nurse grunted with her arms crossed.

“How long before I get these fixators off?”

“With your fractures? I would say twelve weeks for your knee and eight for your arm.”

“So I have to wait at least twelve weeks before I can walk?” Korra threw her head back once more, groaning at herself. “Dammit.”

* * *

 

“You bitch.”

Korra looked up from her sports magazine that had been precariously balanced on her good leg to see Kuvira, looking far from happy. She wanted to ask Kuvira how she got into the ward, but she knew asking her that would be pointless, so instead she played along. “Excuse me?” Korra questioned as she put her magazine down and raised an eyebrow.

“You fucking bitch.” Kuvira almost screamed out, lunging for Korra.

Korra wanted to push Kuvira off, but with the use of only one arm and Kuvira punching at her body, she was far from capable of doing anything. “Hey, whoa, get off me you psycho.”

Grabbing the front of Korra’s gown, Kuvira pulled her close and practically spat in her face. “Because of you and your fucking whore, I’ve had  _all_  my medals striped from me.”

“Good.” Korra laughed out while staring at Kuvira, she had bags under her eyes and her hair was a mess. It was quite possible she was in worse state than the brunette boarder.

The day previous Kuvira had once again be called in front of the board where they would give their final decision. She was so sure she would have been given the all clear – minus the one lost medal – but no, they decided to strip her of all her medals. And for Kuvira that was the same as losing everything she had.

At first the Earth athlete was quite calm, she went back to the athlete’s village, had a shower…it wasn’t until she took some painkillers to calm a headache down did she start to lose it. She took as many of the painkillers as she could with overdosing while she allowed her anger to grow and her mind to race. Before she knew it she was in Korra’s hospital room shouting at her at the top of her voice.

“What did you say penguin-fucker?” Kuvira pulled her even closer, her fingers gripping tighter against the fabric.

“GOOD!”

With a scream of anger, Kuvira shoved Korra into the bed and put her hand around her neck. Korra tried not to whimper but as Kuvira leaned closer, her body pressed against her ribs she couldn’t help but cry out in pain. “I hope you never walk again, I hope you fucking die!”

At that moment Kuvira felt something snap, she was starting to losing it. Kuvira was losing everything that kept her sane, that kept her from ruining her own life and despite being within inches of being hurt once more by the boarder, Korra could see it in her eyes.

“Take your hands off my daughter.” Before Kuvira had a chance to turn around she felt Tonraq’s hands grasp around her wrists, pulling her away from Korra before she was slammed her against the wall. Tonraq was never a fan of harming people, but when it came to protecting his family he would do whatever was necessary.

“Dad, dad, DAD!” Tonraq looked over at his daughter who had worry in her eyes; she looked so much like her mother. So strong yet kind. “Don’t hurt her; just take her to her coach.”

“But – she did this to you, she hurt you.”

“Just because she hurt me doesn’t mean I should hurt her back. She already lost her medals; she doesn’t need any more pain. Just take her to her coach.” For a moment Korra couldn’t believe the words leaving her mouth, only a few days earlier she wanted to punch the crap out of Kuvira and suddenly…she was defending her. She guessed it was that look on Kuvira’s face that did it; she was broken, exhausted and empty shell of a person.

Tonraq nodded and let Kuvira go before escorting her out of the room. “Fine.”

When Kuvira and Tonraq left the room Korra sighed and looked over at the empty chair by her bed. She knew Asami went back to the village to have a shower and get a change of clothing, but not having her there was starting to become odd…almost uncomfortable.

* * *

 

As the days past the moments without Asami started to become almost unbearable, Korra was starting to rely on her more than she had anyone else. Asami would be the one washing Korra, not the nurses, she would braid her hair, keep her mind occupied, even brought a variety of snacks that were far better than the stuff the hospital gave her. Which is where Korra’s friend was at that moment, looking for something far more appealing than that ominous brown gloop she was given for lunch.

Korra was just about getting ready to tear her stomach out from hunger when she heard a soft knock on the door. Looking up she watched as Opal, dressed in a very thin red and yellow jumper opened the door and smiled. “Korra, you alright with receiving a visitor?”

“Opal, hi! Of course.” She beamed out with a smile, she hadn’t seen Opal since the race and had been wondering how she was doing.

With a small nod and a smile Opal made her way over to Asami’s seat and sat down…Asami’s seat, Korra now knew that the jealously in her stomach was taking things too far. She had to keep reminding herself that it is just a seat, a seat that belongs to the hospital, not Asami. Plus they had only known each other for now fifteen days.

“I heard about what you did with Kuvira, I have to say I’m impressed. I like to think I am a pretty level-headed person, but even I would have let my dad punch her.” Korra quickly looked up at Opal, catching only half of what she had said. “So, how are you doing?”

“Good…just getting really bored being stuck in bed.” Korra looked out at the mountain beyond the hospital and sighed slightly, how she wished to be on her board again…even feeling the cold winters air on her skin would be better than this.

“Well if you don’t mind I’m sure I could help entertain you.”

Korra raised her eyebrow before she let out a little chuckle and nodded. “Oh, don’t let Asami hear that, she is very protective of the title ‘Korra entertainer’.”

Opal sat back in her seat and looked confused for the briefest of moments. “Asami, that’s Asami Sato right? You’re girlfriend?”

“Yes…I mean no, I mean, yes Asami Sato, no not my girlfriend.” With a groan, Korra ran her good hand across her face. At times she wondered why she was born to be such an awkward person. If she didn’t want to be a snowboarder, Korra was pretty sure she could make it as one of those people who are known for embarrassing themselves on YouTube.

“Ah, got it. Where is Asami anyway?”

Korra glanced over at the door for a moment, hoping that at that moment Asami was going to walk through, she is really starting to become so attached to Asami she finds it almost sickening…almost. “Out to get some lunch for us, I think we are having Sushi today.” Turning back, Korra gave her fellow athlete a sincere smile. “Thanks by the way.”

“For what?”

“For wishing me good luck, I’ve never had a fellow competitor wish me luck before.”

“When you are against Kuvira you need all the luck you can get.”

For a moment Korra didn’t say anything, instead allowing her mind to wander as she thought about Kuvira. She has some serious issues and unfortunately for Korra she was at the receiving end of it all. “What do you know about Kuvira?”

Opal shifted in her seat and started to play with the hem of her jumper, she looked nervous, no not nervous, scared and angry. “Ex-teammate. She put me in hospital during a training session a few years ago…not to this extent, just a broken arm, but still…she’s a bitch. When I came back to the team she made my life hell, so I left for the Air Nation.”

“Just to face her again.”

With the slightest of chuckles, Opal nodded. “Yes, but this time she was pushing her hate onto you.”

“What is her problem?”

“When she was little my parents brought her into our house and unofficially adopted her but never quite treating her like a daughter. My brothers and I all did skiing or snowboarding, so Kuvira automatically thought if she could prove herself in the sport then she would be respected by my mom.” Opal looked away from Korra, instead opting to look through the window and watch as a few flakes of snow fell from the white sky.

“It didn’t work.”

Opal shook her head before turning back to her injured friend. “No, not in the slightest. Eventually she used her anger for not being treated equally into destroying other people’s lives, blaming everything bad that happened to her and our Nation on any person who showed even the smallest amount of promise.”

“What’s going to happen to her now?”

“I’ve heard rumours that she will be banned from competing and she could be locked up.”

“Locked up, are you serious?” Korra felt her chest tighten; surely Kuvira couldn’t be put away for something like causing a ski crash…could she?

“Well, only if you choose to press charges.” Ah, of course they wouldn’t just lock her up, they would want something from Korra, but this is not something Korra was that willing to do.

“What? That is mental, there is no way I am pressing charges.” Korra gripped the bed in anger. She wasn’t sure why she was angry but the feeling was there, a feeling she was starting to get used to the longer it sat in her chest.

At that moment Asami walked in with a couple of bags of groceries with her eyebrow raised and look of concern in her green eyes. “Why not?” Asami asked.

Korra glanced up at Asami for a moment. “Because I don’t want to, she has suffered enough; she had everything she loved taken from her.”

Putting the bags down by the foot of the bed Asami made her way over to Korra, running her slender fingers through Korra’s unwashed hair, she sighed. “But if you press charges you could get money from it…money to help your snow career, or help your parents.”

Korra couldn’t stop the scoff as she pulled her head away from Asami’s touch. She wanted to control the anger and pain inside but it was getting harder. “What career? The doctor said that I most likely won’t be strong enough to board again, they say with the knee injury I sustained I’ll be lucky to walk.”

“Bullshit.”

“What?” Korra spat out, her head quickly flipping to stare at a stubborn Asami.

Crouching slightly, Asami tried to get Korra to look at her. “You heard me, bullshit. What I am going to do is bring you and your family over to Republic City, where we can give you the best physiotherapy, and before you know it you’ll be doing your dangerous sport once again.”

“I don’t need you to help me Asami.”

“Why not?”

“My family doesn’t have enough money to pay you for it.” Korra’s voice dropped down in volume, she was starting to feel embarrassed about this discussion, about this whole situation.

“I am not asking for money, I just want you to be healthy again.”

“Asami, I can’t.” Biting her lip, the boarder took in a deep breath.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to feel like a charity case!” In anger, Korra used her good hand and slammed it against the rail of her bed before gripping it tight.

Obviously feeling awkward in the situation, Opal stood herself up and gave Korra a slight smile before making her way towards the door. “I’m – I’m going to leave you two alone to sort this out.” Opal bit her lip. “Uh, I’ll be leaving tomorrow since it’s the end of the games…so uh, text me when you get better yeah?”

“Yeah.” Korra mumbled, her eyes fixed on the foot of the bed.

When the door closed with a click, Asami made her way to the otherside of the bed and sat on the edge, her hand taking Korra’s injured one careful not to touch the fixator. Korra looked up, seeing the sadness and worry in Asami’s eyes and it broke her heart. “Korra, I’m sorry if I made you feel like I am giving you charity, I didn’t mean for it to seem that way.”

Asami was only trying to help and Korra knew this, there was no need for her to be so bitter towards her friend. “I know, I didn’t mean to snap I am just getting fed up of being stuck in here.”

At first Asami said nothing, instead opting to nod her head a few times before removing herself from the room. The moment she left Korra felt angry at herself, if she was able to move she would have probably gone to the gym and worked out until the point she passed out and forgot what a horrible person she was. Instead she was stuck there, forced to replay every argument she and Asami had had over the last few days.

A few minutes later Asami came back in the room with a wheelchair and a nurse. “What’s going on?”

Stopping the wheelchair by Korra’s side, the nurse started to remove Korra’s sheets and slowly sat her up. Asami took Korra’s good arm while the nurse repositioned the wheelchair and ensured the brace to keep Korra’s injured leg straight was ready. “I have been giving permission to get you out of your room.”

“Seriously?” Korra groaned as she was slowly helped into the wheelchair.

Taking a blanket, Asami wrapped it around Korra’s shoulders and placed a not very fetching red beanie on her head. The last thing Asami wanted was for Korra to be cold. “Yeah, now don’t expect to be going on the mountain, I am only allowed to take you to the hospital garden, but there will be snow.” She gripped Korra’s shoulders lightly before taking control of the wheelchair and leaving the room.

“Asami, this is the South Pole, there is always snow…everywhere.” Asami didn’t reply to that, instead she chuckled. It was so nice for Korra to get out of the room – even if it was only going to be for an hour – because she had Asami by her side.

The pair sat in the hospital garden while watching the occasional bird fly past. They call it a garden but it isn’t quite that, it is more of a courtyard with no plants and a good dumping of snow, but still it made Korra happy. The only thing that could spoil her mood was the nagging thought of Asami leaving; the games were finished so she had no reason to stay.

Looking over at her friend, Korra frowned slightly. “So, I guess you will be heading home soon as well now the games are over.”

Asami kept her gaze straight ahead, watching a few birds sat on a nearby bench. “No, not yet…well unless you want me gone.”

“What?”

With a turn of her head, Asami gave Korra a gentle but warming smile. “Well if you don’t want to come with me to Republic City then I will stay here and keep you company, if you want.”

“Are you serious?” Korra felt like crying, but she refused to let that happen.

Coming closer to her friend, Asami ran her thumb across Korra’s defined jawline. “Of course I am… and I promise I will only do what you want, you are my friend and I want to be here for you.”

“Thanks, that means a lot to me, but won’t your dad miss you?”

With a brief laugh, Asami sat back in the bench and flipped her hair back, an action that Korra was becoming far too fond of. “Nah, probably not, he will be too busy running the company to care too much. I mean, I probably will go over once an a while just to check on everything but apart from that I will always be here for you.”

“Wow, they should give you a medal.”

“They already did.” Asami stuck the tip of her tongue out and raised her eyebrows.

“You know what I mean!”

For a few moments the pair laughed, but as the laughter died and silence filled the air, Korra’s face dropped. She knew she has every reason to be happy and thankful, she has her friends and family around, she should be happy she didn’t die on the slope but – Korra sighed – she just felt like she had lost control of her life. She could no longer do anything for herself and it would be months, if not years before everything was back to normal, and for Korra that was too long, she was used to a fast paced life, not this.

Korra wasn’t aware that Asami had been watching her with worried eyes and a pained heart until her friend threaded their fingers together and gave her hand a supportive squeeze. “You don’t have to pretend you know.”

“What do you mean?”

Leaning closer, Asami placed her head carefully on Korra’s shoulder. Korra couldn’t help but take in a deep breath; the smell of washing powder on Asami’s clothes filling her nostrils was comforting. “You don’t have to pretend around me that you are fine…you are hurting so it is only natural to feel some sadness.”

Korra closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m just worried that if I cry I will never stop so it’s best for me to keep my spirits up.”

“I don’t believe what the doctors say.” Asami sat up to look at Korra once again, the boarder looked so fragile, so worried, not like the Korra she met on the slope. “I think you will board again, yeah maybe not to competition standards but I still think that is something to aim for, right?”

“Yeah…”

With a smile Asami stood up and stretched her arms, which made Korra slightly envious. “Right, I am going to get a drink, do you want anything?” Korra shook her head. “Are you alright staying here for a few minutes?” Asami was given a nod and a light smile as a reply. “Great, I’ll be right back.”

It took less than two minutes from the moment Asami left the garden for Korra to become overwhelmed with pain, not just physical but emotional pain. Her hand gripped the arm of the wheelchair as she bit her lip in an attempt to hold back tears, but it was no use. Korra knew the tears were coming and there was no way she could stop them, so with a deep breath the brunette opened her eyes and let the tears flow as she listened to the birds singing.


	3. Chapter 3

After a few weeks Korra was finally allowed to go home with her arm free from its cage but her leg still stuck at a ridiculously straight angle. “What about the sheets?” Senna mumbled to her husband while in the car, just loud enough that Korra was able to listen into the conversation.

“What about the sheets?” He answered, quickly putting on the indicator and turning around a sharp corner.

“Her fixator will rip them.”

Korra rolled her eyes at the same time her father did before looking down at the metal surrounding her upper leg and knee. If she hadn’t have been slightly annoyed at the way her mother was speaking, Korra would have realised just what an uncomfortable position she was sat in. Her back up against the car door while her leg took up the whole back seat, even because of her leg Asami had to sit back in the trunk.

Slowly, a pale hand was seen rising from behind the seat which caught the adult’s attention. “Uh Senna…” Asami started before letting green eyes peer over, she had to be really careful the last thing she wanted was the police to spot her back there. Korra was starting to regret not letting the ambulance take her home. “If it is okay with you, I could make something. Like another cage to go around her leg so the sheets don’t get ripped.”

Korra’s mother said nothing at first but then nodded in agreement. Looking down at her friend, Asami smiled and Korra smiled back before lifting her right hand up. Asami met her hand with her own and tried to keep back the tears when she was given the weakest of squeezes she had ever felt. Asami never realised just how much damage Korra had to deal with, and at that moment it took all her strength not to stare at the multiple scars on her friend’s dark skin.

Eventually the family made it home and Korra was immediately hit with the comforting smell of heat and washing. She never realised just how much she missed her home with its warmth embrace and Senna’s collection of milk jugs. Korra was put onto the sofa and left to her own devices while Asami went to the garage to work on the ‘cage’ she promised Senna.

Shuffling on the sofa, Korra picked up an old magazine and starting reading until she saw a picture of her, tangled in the red netting and the title ‘Water Nation hopeful falls at the first hurdle’. With an angered grunt, Korra threw it across the room – narrowly missing the jug collection – before dropping her head back against the armrest. “First hurdle, fucking lies, it was the final.”

“Korra, language.” Was all that was heard from her mother who had been busy in the kitchen.

Korra wasn’t in the mood to mind her language, especially not after what she had read. At moments like this the boarder would normally go for a run or something, but no, instead she was stuck on the sofa forcing her to actually think about her feelings. Which for her, sucked big time, because every time she thought about what she was feeling Asami’s face would pop up in the front of her mind.

“ _Fuck.... Is that better?”_ Korra spat out in her native tongue causing Senna to peer through the kitchen/lounge divide with an eyebrow raised.

“Now Korra, you know the rules for when we have non-native speakers in the house. And like I said before – language!”

“I don’t mind.” Asami said with a smile as she walked from the garage into the kitchen, handing Senna a wooden frame to go around Korra’s leg. “I think your language is fascinating, I admit I can’t understand it but it is interesting. So please, don’t let me stop you.”

With a quick movement, Asami pointed at Korra with a raised eyebrow, “But no making fun of me.”

Korra raised her arms in defence. “I would never do such a thing.”

Once Asami sat herself by Korra – with the thrown magazine in her hand – Korra shouted over to her mom. “ _Mom, mom, guess what!”_

_“What?”_

_“Asami sleeps with a night-light.”_

Asami raised her eyebrow at the brunette when she heard her name, knowing that the goofy grin on her friends face meant she said something bad…or possibly embarrassing. “Ah there is nothing wrong about sleeping with a night-light.” Said Tonraq as he walked into the room and gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek.

Asami’s face dropped. “KORRA! Seriously?” Looking over at the two adults, Asami tried to keep a neutral and mature face. “I can assure you that I do not sleep with a night-light its – it’s just in case I need to get up in the middle of the night and don’t want to walk into something.” Her eyes quickly glared over at Korra who couldn’t stop laughing. “Senna, I give you permission to throw something at Korra if she speaks in your language again.”

Senna laughed and shook her head. “Thank you Asami.”

* * *

 

“Right, the waters nice and warm, you ready?”

Korra looked up from her now free and healed leg to Asami. “Uh, yeah sure…you sure you wanna help me get in there?” She tried to hold back a blush but it was far from working, after all she was sat in nothing but a bath towel.

“Well how else are you going to get in? You are still in no shape to pull yourself in.”

The boarder never thought she would be so happy to be able to have a proper bath again, and even shave – despite never being a fan of shaving and often putting it off for months, Korra felt like she had to with Asami in the house.  She also admitted that she wasn’t happy about Asami being the one to help her into the bath, but it was either her or her father.

Swallowing her pride for a little longer she accepted Asami’s help to get her from her wheelchair and into the bath. “You’re right, sorry, thanks for offering me a hand…but if it would be alright, can you keep the towel on me?”

Placing a light hand on Korra’s shoulder, Asami nodded. “Sure.” She could understand Korra’s nerves, even though she had been the one to often clean her while in the hospital it had always been with a towel or blanket on top.

Bending down through her knees, Asami hooked one hand under Korra’s thighs and the other around her back. With one quick exhale and minor grunt, Asami picked her up and slowly placed her into the warm bath.

“Do you need help washing, or will you be alright?” Asami asked while tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear and trying not to stare at her friend – because even though the towel was covering Korra, it had nicely shaped around her body thanks to the water.

Taking hold of the sponge, Korra smiled. “I’ll be fine, but if it makes you feel better I will call you if I need help.” Asami nodded and left the room, ensuring a fresh towel was resting on the radiator to warm up.

At first Korra did nothing, just removed her damp towel and sat back in the warm embrace of the bath, her fingers running over the scars on her arm from the external fixator. For so long she felt like she would never get to this point, that she would be stuck in the hospital forever. Korra knew that she still had a long road to recovery but just knowing she could sleep in her own bed made everything that little bit better.

Taking hold of her leg, Korra attempted to pull it up with a pained grunt against the edge of the bath so she could get better access to shave, but it was no use. She was unable to lift her leg because of its stiffness or lean forward because it removed all air from her lungs. For a while Korra contemplated her options, ask Asami, shave her thighs but not her lower leg, not shave, or to force herself to the point she will probably injure herself more. It was just at that point; when Korra was tempted to just leave the shaving for a couple more weeks did Asami knock on the door.

“Korra, are you alright? I heard you grunt.”

There was her answer. “Actually, could you come in?”

Korra felt tension run through her spine when she heard the door open and close and the sound of feet padding against the tile floor. It was at that moment she realised she threw the towel that was covering her on the floor, but it was too late. “What can I do for you?”

With a sigh, Korra handed the razor over to Asami. “I am really sorry Asami, but I can’t do it… if you don’t want to do it I understand, it’s a little weird and – ”

Korra was cut off when Asami placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it Korra, if it will help you then I will gladly do it. But of course it is your choice, are you sure you want me to do this?”

“I don’t know.” Sitting back in the bath Korra ran her hand over face and sighed. “Do you find body hair unsightly?”

“No.” Asami answered, sitting herself down on her knees. “Well apart from unruly chest hair, why?”

Looking down at her legs, Korra ran a hand across her fuzz across her knee. “I was just thinking about not shaving…maybe. Would that bother you?”

Shaking her head, Asami put down the razor and smiled. “Korra it’s your body, you do what feels right. If you don’t want to shave then don’t, I won’t and can’t force you to do it.” Gripping the edge of the bath, Asami forced herself back on her feet. “To be totally honest I have always admired women who don’t shave.”

With a gentle smile – that caused Korra to blush – Asami left the bathroom, leaving the razor out of Korra’s reach. Leaning back so her skin was pressed against the cold bath, Korra nodded. “Yeah, I’ll just leave it.”

* * *

 

Later that evening Korra and Asami decided to spend a lazy few hours sat on Korra’s bed while watching Netflix on a laptop that was precariously balanced on Korra’s knee. With a pout, Asami – who was sat back against the headboard with Korra laid between her legs – rested her chin on top of her friends head. “Korra, please stop moving. I can hardly see the screen when you do.”

Korra grunted and shifted once more, “Sorry but my phone is vibrating and I can’t get the fucking thing out of my pocket.”

“Do you want me to get it?” Shifting forward slightly and to the side, Korra nodded and waited for the moment that Asami’s hand slid into her back pocket and pulled out her phone. “Thanks.” Korra mumbled before taking it and checking the text.

“Who is it?” Asami hummed as she ran her fingers across the back of Korra’s head, scratching at her scalp slightly.

“Opal…she said she has moved to Republic City…” Her voice tapered off into a yawn as the feeling of nails against her scalp caused a wave of sleepiness to wash over Korra.

“Aww, are you sleepy?” Korra nodded while trying to keep her eyes open. “Well then we best be getting you ready for bed. Come on you lump, get off me.”

With a reluctant grunt, Korra sat forward allowing Asami to peel herself away from the comfort of the bed. With a few light steps, Asami stopped in the middle of the room in confusion. “Hey Korra, where are your pyjamas? They normally are on your chair.”

“Oh, mom probably put them in the wash. If you go in the second drawer of my dresser you will find fresh ones.”

Nodding, Asami quickly rummaged through the drawer. “Would you like your duck pyjamas or a pair of black boxers and a Pokémon t-shirt?”

“Uh, boxers and t-shirt.”

Smiling, the taller woman pulled out the clothing before feeling something heavy sat between them. Standing up straight, Asami pulled out a polished harmonica. “Korra? Is this yours?”

With a poor attempt at keeping her eyes open, Korra looked over at her friend who had pjs in one hand and her harmonica in the other. “Yeah it is, why?”

“Since when do you play the harmonica?”

“Oh, I’ve been playing since I was ten. I haven’t had a chance to play it since my surgery.”

Shifting her weight on her feet, Asami couldn’t help but smile at the instrument. “I never expected you to be a harmonica player…I always thought that guitar or drums would be more your style.” She looked up at her friend. “I guess I should stop making assumptions…would you play something?”

Putting her weight on her good arm, Korra pushed herself upright and sat back against the headboard. “I can give it a go, but no guarantees I will be any good. I normally use two hands to hold it and have full capacity of both my lungs.”

Kneeling on the bed, Asami gave her friend the instrument. At first Korra just looked at the harmonica, watching as the light twinkled against the silver surface before she pressed it against her lips. With a few deep breaths Korra started playing and Asami’s face nearly dropped in surprise, she expected something simple and the blues, but no, she was playing ‘just give me a reason’.

Asami listened intently, trying not to focus on the pained breaths of her friend. When the moment came, Asami closed her eyes and let the sound leave her throat. Korra nearly choked on her harmonica, Asami was beatboxing. Asami Sato, the girl with a perfect posture and a love of what Korra would class as shitty rock, could beatbox.

The two of them continued to play together for the full song, but when they stopped Korra barely let her lung recover before almost shouting out. “You can beatbox?”

“Uh…yeah, I learnt how to when I was a kid.” Asami shrugged, “I thought it was cool at the time, I guess it’s a little dumb now.”

“Dumb? It’s was awesome! But – why didn’t I know you could beatbox?”

Looking at Korra, Asami felt bad for making her big blue eyes seem almost pained. “Sorry Korra, I guess we still have a lot to learn about each other.”

Her eyes dropped. “Yeah I guess.”

“Well I got an idea.” Asami pulled herself off the bed once again and ran her fingers through Korra’s hair. “I am going to go and get changed into my pjs and you can change into yours. When I come back I think we should play a round of twenty questions.”

“What about sleep?”

Flexing her arm – Korra had to try not to stare at her well defined muscles, thank the Spirits she wore a sleeveless shirt – Asami grinned wildly. “Sleep is for the weak!”

* * *

 

“Biggest fear?”

“Chinchillas.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, nasty bastards. Favourite type of dessert?”

“Those fancy vanillary, custardy slice things with puff pastry and icing…uhh…what is your favourite fruit?”

“Strawberry. What has been your most memorable kiss?”

“Really, I ask about fruit and you ask about a kissing memory?”

“Just answer the question.”

Shifting her head in Asami’s lap, Korra sighed and let her eyes drift along the ceiling. “Well once in high school I had this girlfriend, nothing serious, but one day we were stood outside kissing and I had the oddest thought in my head. So odd I couldn’t stop laughing. So she sat back and asked me what was so funny. So I told her I was thinking about what she would look like in a tux, literally just a random thought. Yeah, that was definitely my most memorable kiss.”

Running her fingers through Korra’s hair once again, Asami smiled sweetly. “What did she do?”

“Surprised me by coming out as transgender.”

Asami sat back slightly; out of all the things she had expected Korra to say it wasn’t that. “What did you do?”

Korra shrugged and laughed lightly to herself. “I gave him a smile, took his hand and said ‘at least I won’t have to wonder’. Spirits, you should have seen his face. At first it was shock and that is when I thought I said the most stupid thing in the world. Then it turned to slight confusion, and then he started crying, like properly sobbing.”

“Wow…so what happened with you two?”

“We dated for a bit longer, and then he broke up with me about a week before he came out to the rest of the school.” Asami felt Korra tense up and her eyes on the verge of crying. Feeling a bit guilty of asking, Asami took her friends hand and gave it a light, supportive squeeze. “Sprits, the reason he broke up with me was because he was worried about me getting the backlash for dating him. Two months later he killed himself.”

“Korra, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, but I like to think now that he is in a better place, you know? Where he can be who he wants to be and not worry about others.” Her eyes wandered down the wall, across the floor and eventually up to Asami’s bright green eyes that were filled with worry.

“It’s just a shame that this was not the world that could provide that safety for him.” Asami quietly said out before getting a slight ‘yeah’ as a reply.

The two women sat in silence for a few minutes, just looking at each other and their hands still gripping together tightly. Eventually Korra broke the silence with a slight laugh and shifted her head again in Asami’s lap. “Wow, this got depressing quickly. Sorry.”

“Korra don’t be sorry, I am glad we could share. Do you want to keep going with the game, or just watch Netflix until we fall asleep?”

“Netflix.” Said without thought, there was no way she wanted to continue with the game after what she just told Asami. Yeah they still had lots to learn about each other, but it didn’t seem like Asami was planning on going anywhere anytime soon so they had time.

“Alright, come here, cuddle.” Asami shifted so she was lying down and opened her arms to let Korra snuggle into her as the faced the laptop.

“It’s not chinchillas…” Asami said after a good ten minutes of silence, her fingers brushing over Korra’s arm. “It’s losing the people I love. That is what I fear the most.”

“I know.” Korra mumbled quietly.

* * *

 

“Keep going.”

“I can’t!” Korra grunted as the physiotherapist pushed down on her leg and she tried to push it back up.

“Yes you can Korra.”

Biting her lip, Korra tried to hold back a whale of pain. “But it hurts.” She whimpered out as she tried to keep pushing.

“The pain is just your muscles having a go at you for not working them out sooner.”

Rolling her eyes Korra dropped her leg and sat herself up in annoyance. It’s not like she had a choice to not work out, she has been stuck in hospital for what felt like forever. At that moment Korra felt like telling the physio to go fuck herself but she knew she couldn’t, she couldn’t give up on herself and she couldn’t give up after all the effort Asami had put into helping her at home.

* * *

 

Putting Korra’s hand down, the physio nodded and gave the woman a genuine smile. “You have a pretty good range of movement, probably at 55%. We just need to strengthen up your arm again and get those fingers working.” Korra tried to hold back a laugh.

“Well, how long until I can go back to the gym and work on it?”

“Not until you are capable of both walking and gripping things without it slipping out of your hand.”

“Oh come on, I am losing my six-pack.” Korra pouted and lifted her hoodie slightly to glance at her stomach. Exhaling she felt like crying – again. “Correction, I have lost my six-pack.”

Trying not to laugh the physiotherapist lifted Korra’s hand. “Sorry Korra, not much I can do about that. Now come on, I want you to hold my hand and try and pull towards your body.”

Taking hold of the physio’s hand, Korra grunted slightly, her hand was stiff but still a lot better than it had been over the last couple of weeks. With another pained grunt, Korra started to pull towards herself and at first the resistance didn’t seem too much until she saw the smirk on her physio’s lips. Without much warning the physio started to put more resistance on Korra’s hand causing the boarder to whimper. “Fuck.”

* * *

 

Leaning against a couple of parallel bars, the physio gave Korra an encouraging smile. “You just need to grab the bars with both hands and put a little weight on your leg, alright?”

With a sigh Korra nodded. Her physiotherapist had been so helpful and patient with her, at first Korra thought she was like that because of her job, but as the months went by she was pretty sure it was because of another reason. “Okay, I’ll try.”

Taking hold of the bars, Korra pulled herself from her wheelchair, putting all the weight on her newly strengthened arms. With a deep breath Korra locked her eyes on a motivation poster at the opposite wall. Slowly she reduced the amount of weight her arms took and let her foot touch the floor.

“Good good, okay a little more weight.”

Sighing she put more pressure on her foot, at first it didn’t seem too bad, a little painful but nothing compared to pain she had felt in the past few months. But for whatever stupid reason, Korra decided to put almost all her weight on her feet causing her bad knee to buckle underneath. With a deep thud the brunette fell to the floor. “Fuck.”

The physio was quite slow to helping Korra up and sitting her back in her chair. With a smile she took Korra’s hand and squeezed it gently. “Don’t worry, most people fall on their first try.”

“Trust me, that doesn’t make me feel any better.” Korra pulled her hand away from the physio’s and slowly allowed her eyes to wander up to the window that faced into the corridor. There stood Asami with a smile on her face and her hair pinned back in the most beautiful of ways. Her friend waved slightly egging Korra to wave back and blush.

“That you’re girlfriend?”

Korra quickly looked back over to the physio who had now taken her position back at the bars. Her eyes were staring at Asami in a way that almost seemed vicious. She definitely had a thing for Korra, but quite frankly Korra couldn’t be bothered with it all because she was too engrossed in her feelings for Asami. Feelings which were causing her to frequently blush deeply and stumble over her words. “What? No…I mean…yeah, no, she’s not, she’s just a friend.”

“Well maybe you should show your  _friend_  just how well you can do. I want you to try again and take one step.”

Lifting herself back onto the bars, Korra took a breath. “Okay, I can do this…” Biting her lip and wincing Korra manages to put almost all of her weight on her leg. Taking in a another deep breath she slowly, but eventually takes a step.

At that moment Korra felt her heart fill with joy and if it wasn’t for her holding onto the bars for dear life she would have punched the air in celebration. Looking back over to the window Korra watched as Asami jumped up and down clapping like a right idiot, but for Korra she still looked perfect.

* * *

 

As the weeks past Asami started to become more than a friend for Korra, she became a pillar, to help Korra stay strong during her rehabilitation. When Korra was feeling sad Asami was there to cheer her up, in pain Asami gave her relief, she even gave her motivation to be able to walk again. She was the best thing that ever happened to her.

“How far can you walk now with your cane?”

Korra looked down at her cane before looking up at Asami who was sat on the sofa besides her. The boarder had just finished another physiotherapy session and was quite upbeat about her progress. “A couple of meters, not that far but I am getting there.”

With a smile Asami got up from the sofa before helping Korra onto her feet, her fingers gripping the cane tightly. “Asami, what are we doing?”

“Do you remember your incentive?” She said in a low voice before walking to the other side of the living room.

“Of course I remember.”

“Good.” Asami laughed out before stopping and turning back to Korra, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. “Then walk to me.”

Korra looked at Asami, despite being no more than five meters from her it seemed like the greatest distance in the world. At first she felt tempted to say no, to sit down and give up – that was until she watched Asami bite her painted bottom lip and raise an eyebrow. That sight alone drove shivers up Korra’s spine and energy through her limbs, she could only imagine how she would feel from a kiss.

A look of determination washed over Korra’s face as she gripped her cane and took the first step. The moment she put weight on her leg, even with the aid, she felt pain run through her, but she couldn’t stop, not now. Each step was more painful than the last, but she was getting closer.

“You’re almost there.” Asami said, putting her hands out to Korra in case she collapsed from the pain.

With a final step Korra dropped the cane and wrapped her arms around Asami, allowing her to take most of her weight. Letting out a delighted squeal, Asami helped Korra to sit down on a nearby seat before dropping to her knees. “You did it.” Asami smiled, her fingers brushing Korra’s cheek.

Korra didn’t say much at first because she was too busy panting, instead opting to rub her cheek more into her friends hand. “Yeah… so uh…”

Asami laughed and took Korra’s hand with her own free hand before inching slightly closer. As the pair became closer their hearts started to beat like a stampede of wild horses while their minds started to be both filled with thoughts yet nothingness. Before Korra had fully chance to register just how close Asami was, just how close they were to finally kissing after so many months, their lips touched. It was light at first, filled with slight caution, but as both sets of eyes closed and hands wrapped around bodies they sank into the kiss. It felt so right, so soft and meaningful…perfect.

When they finally broke away both girls laughed as their foreheads pressed together. “So…” Korra started, her fingers playing with Asami’s and her blue eyes gazing into green. “That was nice, like really really nice.”

“It was.” Asami hummed as she pressed another quick kiss onto Korra’s lips.

“So I was thinking.”

Asami hummed again, followed by another quick kiss, at this rate Korra was never going to get her sentence out. Trying not to startle Asami with quick movements, Korra pushed her back slightly with an apologetic smile. “I was thinking we could you know, like do the whole dating thing…if, if that is what you wanted.”

“Do you mean date as in we become girlfriends, or date as in we go on a date?”

“Both…so like we could become girlfriends and then I could take you on a date. It will be super romantic and amazing.”

Placing another sneaky kiss on Korra’s lips Asami nodded. “I would like that, a lot.”

“Really? Good, because like I really really like you Asami and having you as a friend is wow, but having you as a girlfriend would be even more…like seriously…”

“Korra, you’re rambling.”

With a blush, Korra slumped slightly and sat back. “Sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry, it’s cute just difficult to follow.” Korra frowned slightly until she felt Asami wrap her arms around her waist and pull her closer. “Come here and let me kiss my girlfriend.”

The word girlfriend rolled off Asami’s tongue like she had been calling Korra that for as long as they had known each other, and Korra was more than happy to hear it. With happy smiles and loved-filled hearts, the couple went back to watching TV.

As Korra laid her head on Asami’s lap, Asami ran her fingers through the thick mass of brunette hair, playing with its slightly curled ends. “Your hair has grown; it was just at your chin when we first met.”

Shifting slightly because of a dead arm, Korra smiled at her girlfriend – her girlfriend, she was so amazed to be dating such a beautiful woman. “Yeah, it grows quite quickly; to be honest I’ve been thinking about cutting my hair, like a lot shorter.”

“What style are you thinking?”

“A messy pixie cut, what do you think?”

Taking two of her fingers, Asami kissed the tips before placing them on Korra’s lips. “I think you will look even more beautiful than you do now. If you want I can cut it for you.”

“I would love that.”

After washing Korra’s hair and sitting her down in her wheelchair in the bathroom, Asami placed a towel around her neck. Asami couldn’t help but chuckle at the blue article. It seemed that nearly everything in the house was either blue, white or brown.

Picking up a comb, Asami swiftly – but carefully in case of any unexpected knots – combed Korra’s hair before taking hold of the scissors. “You sure you want to do this?”

“Yeah I’m sure; it’s only hair so if you mess up it’ll grow back.”

“Oh thanks.” Asami laughed out while trying to sound offended. With a deep breath Asami took the scissors to Korra’s thick hair and started to cut, locks of brunette falling around the taller woman’s feet.

It didn’t take Asami more than twenty minutes to cut, towel-dry and style Korra’s hair, but it gave Senna enough time to notice the unusual sounds coming from the family bathroom. Walking towards the open bathroom door, Korra’s mother glanced in to see Asami running her fingers through her daughter’s hair, her daughter’s short hair.

Clearing her throat as she stepped in, Senna raised her eyebrow at both the girl. “Korra, what have you done?”

Korra looked at her mother, over to Asami and back to her mother before pointing up at the woman besides her. “Asami did it!”

Furrowing her brow, Asami quickly swung her hair to glare at her girlfriend. “What are you five?”

“And a half.” Korra corrected, which encouraged Asami to roll her eyes.

Putting her hands up, Asami sighed and gave Senna a gentle smile. “I would like to say Senna – lovely mother of Korra and possibly the best cook in the world – in my defence….Korra made me do it.” She quickly pointed back at Korra like a child.

Running her fingers across the bridge of her nose, Senna shook her head and sighed. “Your grandma is going to freak when she sees you at the Solstice.”

“But mom, grandma’s dead.” Korra was slightly confused.

“You’re other grandma.”

“I have another grandma?” Now she was really confused.

“Of course you do, where do you think I came from? The spirits didn’t magic me up.”

Snapping her fingers Korra tried to put on a disappointed face. “They didn’t? I better tell all my old schoolmates that…man I was so popular because of that story.” Sitting back in her wheelchair, the boarder crossed her arms. “Why am I hearing about this grandma now?”

“You know about her, she comes every year!”

“She does?”

“Yes Korra, she tends to keep out of everyone’s way….sits in the corner eating donuts. Remember her?”

It took a few moments but eventually realisation came across Korra’s face. “Oh my spirits, that’s grandma? The woman with the beard, cross eyes and that kisses everyone on the lips?” Korra ran her fingers across her chin as if she had a beard of her own. “Damn, I thought she was just a weirdo that didn’t like being alone at Solstice.”

Senna shakes her head and starts to leave while mumbling under her breath. “I don’t know what I am going to do with you.”

Running her fingers through her girlfriend’s hair, Asami quickly and playfully pushed her head down. “Korra you are such a dork at times.”

Trying to fix the mess that Asami had made, the brunette smirks, her lips turning up to the left. “I am, but I am your dork.”

Leaning down, Asami smirks. “That is true; now kiss me before I get tempted to cut your hair any shorter.”

“Cut it shorter and you will have my grandma to deal with.”

Rolling her eyes Asami kisses Korra. The kiss like before started off slow and innocent, but as their heads and lips moved in unison and their tongues explored each other’s mouth things started to get a lot more heated.

It didn’t take long for Asami to be straddling Korra’s waist despite her still sitting in a restrictive wheelchair, and for the taller woman’s maroon jumper to be pushed up by eager hands. However inside a small corner of Asami’s brain was a small voice nagging at her, telling her this wasn’t smart, Korra was still injured and still in pain. A small bite on her lower lip almost caused Asami to forget fully about the nagging voice until she shifted which caused Korra to let out a pained breath. Placing her hands on Korra’s ever growing shoulders, Asami pulled away. “I’m sorry Korra, I can’t.”

The brunette didn’t reply, instead nodded and watched as Asami clambered off her lap and straightened herself out. “We should probably clean the bathroom then get ready for dinner.”

“Yeah, sure…”

That night Korra felt so angry with herself, she knew Asami wouldn’t want this yet; they had only got together that day. Laying her head against the pillow Korra exhaled while trying to ignore the throbbing in her shorts. It had been months since she was last capable of touching herself, and in general she was able to keep herself under control by not being in any sexual situations or thinking innocent thoughts. But after the incident in the bathroom Korra was no longer to stop her mind from wondering.

Grasping her leg, Korra carefully lifted it until it was bent before opening and bending her other leg. She quickly glanced over at the closed door, examining the lock from a distance. The door was closed but unlocked, Korra just hoped her hearing was good enough to detect anyone coming close to her room.

With a confidence in her senses, Korra wasted no time to slide her good hand into her pyjama shorts. Normally she would use her right hand but the last thing she wanted was for it to cramp up and have to explain how it happened to her physiotherapist.

Korra didn’t bother teasing herself like she was used to, instead she ran her fingers further down allowing them to be coated in a thin layer of arousal. The feeling of the warm liquid coating her fingers caused her to whimper slightly in surprise, Korra knew she was turned-on but she didn’t think she was that turned-on.

Bringing her hand back up, Korra rolled her swollen clit between her fingers while letting out another whimper, this time it was louder. Loud enough for Asami to hear through the wall.

Sitting up in her bed and putting her book down, Asami looked to the wall behind her while she listened to some noises – which at first sounded a bit odd. Moving until she was on her knees, Asami pressed her ear against the divide between the guest room and Korra’s.  “Is she – is she moaning?” Asami mumbled to herself while she heard another possible moan.

It wasn’t until she heard her name being gasped out in pleasure did Asami realise what Korra was doing. Falling to her backside, Asami pressed on hand against her chest and another against her mouth. Korra was masturbating while thinking of her.

Asami felt a mixture of emotions, part of her was proud to be the thoughts of Korra’s masturbation session – since she had always seen such an act as normal and natural – but she also felt a little sad that she couldn’t watch Korra, or give her a hand. Without first realising, Asami started to think about what Korra looked like on the other side of the wall. Her hair a mess, her body heaving and sweating with a blush across her cheeks while Korra furiously played with herself.

Not paying much attention to what her own body was doing, Asami brought her hand down from her mouth and slowly slid it down her naked body. She was so pleased she decided to sleep nude that evening, “If only you could see me Korra, would I turn you on?”

There was a moan from the wall which caused Asami to almost drip with arousal, to her that was almost as good as Korra whispering an answer in her ear. Using her other hand to grip the headboard, Asami wasted no time to plunge two fingers deep into her and started to finger herself.

“Fuck, Korra.”

Korra quickly looked up at the wall behind her with a blush on her face. Could Asami hear her? Running her finger against her clit again, Korra groaned out, “Ah, Asami!”

To which Asami replied with another breathy moan. Spirits, they could hear each other, suddenly for Korra this session suddenly became much more interesting.

Despite the solid wall between them, both women played with themselves while dreaming what it would be like for the other to be the one touching them. Soft yet strong touches, passionate kisses, fingers and tongues exploring every possible spot causing them to buck in delight.

The couple played with themselves for several minutes – them listening to each other’s moans and pleas to judge their pace – before a strong orgasm took over them both. As the orgasm washed over Asami, her grip on the headboard increased while she let out a series of expletives. Korra on the other hand shuddered and whimpered, only moaning out Asami’s name while her orgasm started to die down.

In the days passing they would not talk about what had happened, instead deciding to listen to each other’s moans through the thickness of a wall when the mood struck.


	4. Chapter 4

“What? No way!”

“Yes way.”

“You can fit a jumbo cookie, in your mouth, whole?”

“That’s what I said.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I’ll show you.”

Stumbling off the sofa, with cane in hand, Korra hobbled to the kitchen in search for the double chocolate chip jumbo cookies her mom has bought the day before. With a few huffs and grunts, the boarder successfully managed to walk the eight meters there, clamber onto the worktop to grab the cookie from the wall cupboard and walk back without the help of Asami. Sitting back down, Korra handed the cookie to her girlfriend. “I have got to see this!”

Brushing her hair back, Asami exhaled while staring at the obscenely large cookie, “Spirits, I am about to lose my all my dignity… thank fuck dad isn’t here to see this.” With a last exhale Asami opened her mouth and slowly pushed it into her mouth.

At first Korra wasn’t convinced Asami was going to manage putting the whole cookie in, but with one last push the chocolate treat was now snug in her mouth. “Well fuck me…” Korra mumbled to herself before pressing her finger against the cookie, breaking it in Asami’s mouth.

Not expecting that to happen, Asami started to cough and splutter, a lot of the cookie falling on the space between the girls. “Fuck Korra, I’m sorry I’ve covered you in crumbs.”

Korra couldn’t help but laugh and shake her head. “Right now I don’t care about the crumbs, I am way too amazed at you being able to do that.”

“It’s stupid…” Asami mumbled to herself before the sound of her phone ringing caught her attention. Korra furrowed her brow at the sound of Asami’s Pretty Reckless ringtone – she had never been a fan of that Fire Nation band – before brushing the crumbs off her lap.

Lifting her hips up, Asami pulled out her phone from her grey skinny jeans – that had been tucked into a nice pair of maroon leather boots, which Korra loved – before answering. “Hello, Asami Sato speaking.”

Without realising Korra bit her lip at the sound of Asami’s formal phone voice. It was quite possibly the second sexiest voice she produces, of course after her orgasm voice. Even through walls it was the sound of angels.

Asami didn’t say much, just a lot of humming while Korra noticed her body start to slump and her skin turning white. At first Korra thought Asami was not feeling well and was about to pass out – probably because of the cookie – but the moment Asami said, “I’ll be on the first plane back tomorrow.” Korra’s stomach started to feel uneasy.

Ending the call, Asami ran her fingers over the stainless steel phone case while she bit her lip. “Is something wrong?” Korra asked.

Slowly Asami turned to look at her girlfriend, her green eyes glinting in the low light as tears threatened to spill past her long lashes. “It’s – it’s my dad…he uh was in a car accident while visiting Zaofu… ah um, they think it was a drunk driver.”

Korra immediately took hold of Asami, pulling her into a hug. “I am so sorry, is he okay?”

Asami nuzzled her head into Korra’s shoulder while her body started to shake with grief. “He’s dead.” Once those words left her mouth did the floodgates open, and all Korra could do was hold her girlfriend and hope she would be fine.

* * *

 

Looking to her left, Korra watched as her girlfriend stared out the window of the airplane, her skin pale with dark circles under her eyes and her hair up in a messy bun. She couldn’t even muster up the strength in the morning to dress in her normal jeans, blouse and heels. Instead she opted for sweatpants and a thick jumper.

Taking hold of Asami’s hand, Korra gave it a reassuring squeeze but she didn’t respond, no movement, no smile, nothing. She was this way partly because of her fear of flying but also because of the grief that was attacking her body.

The next few days were hectic and painful for Asami, working with the board of Future Industries to try and finish off any paperwork to make her the owner, while she also had to sort out the funeral for her father.

Asami originally wanted an open casket until the Chief of Police explained his body was too damaged in the crash.

Gripping the bridge of her nose, Asami let out a pained sigh, “So what exactly happened?” She pushed the mangled pictures of her father to the other side of the desk.

“While in Zaofu your father was hit by what we assumed to be a drunk driver who ran a red light.” Chief Beifong sat back in her chair and cracked her knuckles. “When we looked deeper into it, it seemed the driver of the other vehicle was actually high on narcotics. We can’t tell you much else apart from both parties involved had been killed instantly.”

Asami felt like kicking herself, for years she told her father that they needed to improve the safety of their vehicles, but no, he always saw it as a pointless investment. Yes…pointless.

“What was their name?”

“Excuse me?”

Looking up, Asami’s eyes were wide and threatening to cry once again. Korra placed a hand on Asami’s lap only to have it slapped away. “The driver, what was their name?”

Opening a file, Chief Beifong flipped through the pages until she threw a piece of paper over the desk to Asami. Bringing the document closer, Asami glanced over at the images of dental impressions before looking lower and seeing a name. “Kuvira…”

Before Korra had a chance to allow her stomach to drop, Asami pushed her chair back causing it to fall on the floor and stormed out of the office. Korra gave the Chief an apologetic smile before hobbling after Asami, only just catching her when they got to the central corridor.

“Asami, Asami wait.” She turned to her girlfriend when her hand gripped her wrist, tears flowed from her green eyes and her lip quivered. “I am so sorry.” Korra knew those words weren’t enough.

“What – what for? That bitch is dead, I am happy.”

“You don’t mean that.”

Sniffing, Asami shook her head. “No no no, I do mean that. Look what she did to you, look what she did to my family. I am glad that fucking twisted cunt is dead.” With each passing word Asami’s voice grew louder, causing attention to be attracted to her while Korra couldn’t help but flinch.

Noticing the minor terror in the boarders normally bright, blue eyes Asami took a step back and shook her head. She couldn’t believe those words left her mouth; no one deserves to die, no matter how horrid they were.

Suddenly feeling very faint, Asami fell back against the wall, her fingers attempting to dig into the plaster. Korra quickly wrapped her arms around Asami, noticing just how small she felt at that time and it was not right. Asami was so often filled with happiness and cheek, her body always straight, her smile strong and her mind stronger. This was not the Asami that Korra knew; this was a girl, a girl who was broken.

And all Korra could do was hope to find a way to put her back together.

* * *

 

As Asami laid in her bed, her eyes red, her hair unwashed and her body stiff from little movement, Korra placed a cup of hot chocolate on the bedside. With a pained grunt, the boarder dropped down to her knees to look her girlfriend in the eye. “Asami, I made you a hot chocolate.”

Asami said nothing, just stared at Korra. No not at her, through her. “I’m uh...going to go for a little walk, if that alright?” Asami again said nothing.

“Alright, well make sure you drink your hot chocolate while it’s, you know, hot.”

Standing up, Korra went to leave Asami alone, to let her sleep but as she took a step she felt a clammy hand wrap around her wrist. Turning back, she watched as Asami battled back her tears and looked he girlfriend in the eye. “Stay with me…please.”

With an almost pleased smile, Korra nodded. “Of course.”

Asami couldn’t help but laugh out when Korra opted to clamber over her instead of moving around the bed. Once behind her girlfriend, Korra latched herself onto Asami with her arms and legs wrapped around her slender frame. Once her laughter faded and Korra’s movements stopped she could feel her sadness grow within her again, a sadness that she didn’t want to deal with…not yet.

Feeling Asami tense up, Korra let out a little chuckle. “You know once I made a flame-thrower in school.”

Shifting, Asami turned around to look at her girlfriend with her eyebrow raised but sadness still in her eyes. “Why?” She didn’t actually know why she asked why Korra did it; Korra was Korra, often impulsive. Asami wouldn’t be surprised if it was a dare.

“Well you see.” Korra started, resting her head on her hand. “My teacher was talking about the elements, so like the fire triangle, what makes water, that sort of boring stuff. So of course, me being the immature girl that I was…am, I started talking about that show…you know, the one where they control elements?”

Furrowing her brow, Asami thought for a moment. “Well that narrows it down, W.I.T.C.H?”

“No…”

“Cardcaptors?

Shaking her head, Korra sighed. “No, she just used elemental cards.”

“Naruto?”

Korra tried not to look impressed at Asami’s knowledge on what she classed as good TV. “No…” Rubbing the back of her neck, the boarder sighed. “Uh….”

Moving onto her stomach, Asami couldn’t help but almost grin. “Oh, there was that evil witch woman in Charmed that could control the eleme – ”

“Captain Planet!” Korra shouted out. “That’s the one…”

“Never heard of it.” Asami said with a confused looked.

Korra tried not to look shocked and hurt, to her Captain Planet was an amazing show but that didn’t matter because she was telling a story. “Anyway, I started talking about it and my teacher kept saying that controlling the elements wasn’t possible.”

“So you made a flame-thrower to prove them wrong?”

“Exactly.” Korra clicked her fingers and lightly pressed her lips on Asami’s nose. “So I tucked an aerosol in one sleeve of my jumper and I got a lighter in my other hand.”

Asami pressed her face against the pillow, trying to hide her smile and slight chuckle. “What did you burn?”

“The large wooden carving of the spirit Raava…she was the school mascot. I also managed to singe my jumper too.”

“Spirits Korra, I can’t believe you! You are such a danger!”

Wrapping her arms around her girlfriend’s waist, Korra pulled her closer and let her mouth turn into a crooked smile. “I know and that’s why I am so glad to have you. You can patch up all my wounds.” Korra placed her finger against Asami’s chest, right about her heart. “And I am here to patch up your wounds…both physical and emotional.”

Asami buried her head into Korra’s shoulder. “Korra I can’t believe you.”

She told that story to make Asami forget about the pain she was feeling, to make her smile and it worked. They spent the next three days laid in each other’s arms, hardly a negative word passing their lips which Asami was more than grateful for.

* * *

 

“You don’t have to stay here you know.”

Asami looked at her girlfriend who was stood just a few steps away from her, backpack on her shoulders and gentle smile on her face. With a deep sigh Asami pushed her fingers through her hair while shaking her head. “No I do…I need to stay and look after the company. Change of owners can be a difficult time for a business and I am not willing to let my father down.” Asami bit her lip. “You understand, don’t you?”

Pushing up the sleeves of her slightly ill-fitting shirt, Korra tried to give off a positive smile. “Of course I do. I just feel a little unsettled about leaving you alone.”

“Don’t worry about me Korra, I can look after myself. I am just worried about what your physiotherapist is going to do to you for missing four sessions.”

Rubbing the back of her neck, Korra nodded and let a blush fill her cheeks. “You’re right. So uh, see you soon right?”

“Of course, I will try and come over whenever I can.”

“And I’ll visit too, you know, when I have enough money.” Korra said quietly as she shrugged her bag back onto her shoulders. She didn’t want Asami to always being the one to visit, but Korra also knew that neither she nor her parents had enough disposable income to buy tickets whenever they wanted. Especially since her physiotherapy was far from cheap.

Pulling her girlfriend into her arms, Asami placed her chin on top of Korra’s head which made the boarder laugh a little. “Don’t worry Korra we will figure this out.”

“Yeah we will. And Asami?”

“Yeah?” Asami pushed Korra to nearly arm’s length, her fingers playing with the straps of Korra’s backpack.

“I – I am sorry for what happened to your dad, I would have liked to have met him.”

“Thanks but it is probably for the best you never got the chance.”

“Why’s that?”

With a shrug Asami let go of Korra and let her arms drop lifelessly to her sides. Korra knew Asami and her dad didn’t have the best of relationships because of how busy he kept himself in the company, but she never liked the idea of mentioning that is was her father’s doing that a Civil War nearly broke out. Tucking her hands in the pocket of her loose jeans, Asami gave the brunette a light smile. “Let’s just say when it came to racism he made Kuvira seem tame.”

Ruffling Korra’s head, Asami smiled slightly. “Now come on, hurry or you are going to miss your flight.” She didn’t exactly lie – her father wasn’t one to mince his words when it came to saying what he thought about those of the Water Nation – so it seemed liked a slightly better alternative than to explain just what a horrid man he could be. But still he was her father and in some way she did love him.

Patting her pockets to make sure she had everything Korra nodded. “Right yeah, I’ll text you when I get home.”

“Sure.”

“And don’t work too hard.” Korra lifted up to reach Asami’s lips.

“I won’t.” Bending down just a touch, the couple kissed for a few moments before Korra took a few steps back and made her way to the security gates. Once she was just about to go through Asami decided to throw her hand up to her girlfriend and shout out. “Oh and Korra?”

Turning around, Korra smiled as she stepped back into the metal detector. “Yeah?”

“I lo – ” Without warning the alarm went off which made Asami half annoyed yet also slightly amused, of course Korra would forget to take something out of her pockets. “ – you.”

“What?” Korra shouted from the other side of the barriers after proving she was carrying no more than a couple of coins and she was not a danger to society.

Asami watched, her body bouncing on the balls of her feet as he watched Korra being glared at then told off by a very large security guard. The corners of her lips turned into a smile when Korra put her free arm up in the air at the man and loudly said out, “Alright alright, I’m moving, calm your tits.” before making her way further into the departure lounge.

Pulling her car keys from the breast pocket of her leather jacket Asami laughed at herself. “I am so going to miss her.”

It took Asami no more than five minutes to reach her car, but in that time she had checked her phone eight times in the hope that Korra had text her. This was going to take a long time for Asami to adjust being alone.

* * *

 

For the first few days Korra was understandably a little down, she had spent almost eleven months with Asami to the point they eventually slept in the same bed. At first Asami was a little hesitant, but when Korra cleared up that it was not for any sexual reasons, she had just been sleeping badly, Asami was more than happy to stay. Her bed felt empty, she missed Asami’s pleasant scent and her intoxicating laughter, spirits she even missed tripping up on Asami’s boots that were always left at the end of the bed.

Tonraq told Korra that it would naturally feel odd for a week or so but eventually she would get used to it again. But that wasn’t the case. The boarder never quite realised how much Asami made her feel happy, made her forget about the pain in her arm, leg and chest. She never realised that if she stumbled Asami would always be there for her, that when she struggled to breathe because her lungs were never quite the same Asami acted like that extra breath she needed.

Looking down at her hand, Korra grunted and gripped a pencil, having to use her other hand to fully close her fingers. Slowly she let go of the grip and her fingers immediately sprung back open dropping the pencil, with a growl of frustration Korra swiped the pencil off the desk and laid her head on the cold wood. It was useless, she was useless, everything was useless without Asami. It had been a month since they said their goodbyes in the airport and Korra never felt so lost. Sure they texted every day and Skyped twice a week but it wasn’t enough.

* * *

 

“What did the Doctor say?”

Korra pulled her eyes from the numerous scars on her hand before looking at Asami on the screen of her tiny laptop. The poor quality screen and lighting didn’t do anything justice for Asami but to Korra she was still beautiful, just too far away. With a shrug, Korra crossed her arms. “Not much, he doesn’t think it will get better with anymore physiotherapy so the only other choice is surgery.”

“Do you want surgery?”

Korra shrugged again. “I’m not sure, he said the chance of the surgery working is less than 60%...but if it does work I will probably get to around 85% function which is better than my current 65.”

Asami shifted in her seat, squinting slightly as the sunlight hit her eye. It was morning in Republic City, and despite it being late afternoon in the Southern Water City the sun had already begun to set. Winter had really kicked in. “So I was wondering…” Korra started before rubbing her fingers across a small scar on her knuckle.

“Yes?”

“What were your plans for the Winter Solstice?” Looking up, Korra smiled slightly at how intently Asami was listening – a smile on her face and her hair messily pulled back into a bun. “I mean like, you do celebrate it don’t you?”

Asami shook her head. “It isn’t commonly celebrated in the United Republic unless you are originally from the Water Nation.” Hesitating for a moment, Asami bit her lip. “I mean, I would love to celebrate it, I have always found it interesting…”

Before Asami had the chance to say ‘but’ Korra interrupted. “Well my parents and I thought it would be great if you came here and celebrated it with us.”

Her heart sank as Asami watched two sets of bright blue eyes darting around, looking for hope, for confirmation that she would get to see her girlfriend. Asami had no choice but to disappoint her. “I can’t, I’m sorry Korra but the company is still a mess and I have to get it up and running before I can come over.”

Slumping back in her chair, Korra tried not to sigh. She knew it was short notice since the Solstice was only two weeks away, but for Korra that would have been better than any present she could have been giving. Korra inhaled and nodded in agreement. “I understand.”

“I’m sorry Korra.”

“No no, its fine Asami, there is no need to apologise.”

Asami was actually quite impressed at how well Korra was taking that, but she knew her girlfriend and she knew it was killing her inside. With a deep breath Asami nodded and glanced at her phone. “Well uh, I better get going I have a busy day at work. Text you, yeah?”

Korra nodded but didn’t reply, instead looked down at the bottom of the screen before ending the call. She knew Asami would probably be annoyed at her for ending the call like that but at that moment she didn’t really care.

Pulling herself off her desk chair, Korra hobbled to the bed without her cane before falling face-first into the mattress. For a few minutes the brunette did nothing but continuously sigh and think about her girlfriend, her girlfriend who won’t be there for the Solstice. Korra understood that Asami had a lot of responsibility with the company and it keeps her busy, she even hasn’t had time to train for the skeleton like she was able to when with Korra. But still, it hurt her; it hurt her that Asami didn’t act like she cared. Or perhaps she did care but Korra was too selfish to see it, she didn’t know.

Korra was just about to let out another pained sigh when a small knock came at her door. “ _Come in_.”

Senna opened the door slowly and tried to smile at her daughter. She seemed so small, so fragile…so different from the Korra that Senna had known. “ _Uh Korra you need to get ready, you have the physio today, remember?_ ”

She didn’t reply to her mother, instead grunted and pushed herself upright before grabbing a nearby hoodie. The last thing Korra wanted right now was to see the physiotherapist, but she had little choice.

Leaning over to grab her cane, Senna shot Korra a harsh look. “ _And don’t forget, you aren’t to use your cane_.”

With another grunt, Korra nodded and slowly made herself stand up with no assistance before hobbling towards the door and her now smiling mother.

* * *

 

Exhaling, Asami ran her fingers across the bridge of her nose, pinching slightly. Her conversation with Korra that morning had been a bust and her day at work had been even worse. The way her father left the company was awful and taking far longer to fix what he had broken. How he hadn’t been arrested ten times over for doing some really illegal things was beyond Asami’s comprehension, but she was not waiting to see it fall back on her. On top of her daddy issues Asami was very close to firing an idiot who ordered 10,000 boxes of the wrong size screws, but as she stared at the clock on her office wall she lost all motivation.

Pushing herself away from her desk, Asami picked up her phone and made her way to the locker rooms. With a quick change from her office wear – a skirt which she didn’t quite like wearing – and into a more comfortable set of leather bike gear, Asami swiftly left the Futures Industry building.

It took Asami no more than twenty minutes of riding to reach the Republic City public ice rink on her classic cruiser motorcycle – that of course had a few Sato tweaks including a black and maroon paintjob. Getting to the reception with helmet under arm, she gave the receptionist a gentle smile before leaping over the barriers. Asami didn’t have to pay to enter since she was the one who built the ice rink, but she wasn’t willing to wait forever for the bumbling teenage receptionist to open the barriers for her while staring at her ass.

With a swift turn on the ball of her foot, Asami made her way over to the part where the ice rink itself was housed. This was becoming Asami’s third favourite place to be – first being in Korra’s arms and the second tinkering under a car – so she sat herself down on the benches and watched as the Fire Ferrets finished off a training session.

She was never a fan of ice hockey because she always found it too rough and boisterous but over the last few weeks she had been finding it more and more appealing, especially when she saw Mako being slammed into the sides. Asami had to hold back a smile but she couldn’t, Mako was nice but deep inside she was still annoyed with him, especially after what he said about Korra at the games.

When the training session ended, Asami waved to the two brothers. Bolin waved back quickly and excitedly, while Mako gave a weak salute-like wave. Had he always been this grumpy? She wasn’t sure so instead shrugged off the thought and went up to meet her friends as they made their way towards the locker room.

“Hey Asami.” Bolin called out with a happy tone, Mako just muttered his hellos.

“How was practice?” Asami looked over to Mako who was rubbing his shoulder slightly. “That looked like a nasty hit, you alright?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Bolin rolled his eyes. “No he won’t be, he will spend all evening moaning and groaning because unlike me, he is not built like a rock.”

In a swift movement Mako put his hand on Bolin’s head and pushed it down. “Yeah well I’m still faster than you.”

“Not fast enough to avoid being checked.”

Asami laughed for a moment as she watched the brothers being, well just that, brothers before their coach started to shout at them. “Well I’ll let you guys get changed…do you wanna go out for something to eat? I bet you are hungry.” Asami’s eyes fell down just enough for the brothers to notice her sadness. “And to be honest I could do with the company.”

Without hesitation, Bolin put his arm around Asami’s neck while grinning madly. Asami had to do everything she could not to gag, he smelt really bad. “Don’t worry milady, we shall escort you to dinner and shall ensure you never feel alone…for this evening at least.”

Bolin and Mako did a good job of making Asami forget about the pain in her chest. The trio laughed, ate and had fun, just like they did when they were younger. But still, a part of Asami wished Korra had been with them.

“And – and she kissed me. Like, I wasn’t even trying to be all you know – swarve and swarve.” Bolin dropped his head down, letting his chin press against the table while his finger ran through a small spill of beer.

Mako raised his eyebrow and sat back, “Bolin you said swarve twice.”

“That’s my point! She liked me for me.” The younger brother sighed. “It’s so confusing!”

“Who exactly is this girl?” Asami asked while she caused a whirlpool in her drink using a straw.

“Her name is Opal, she just here moved but Spirits… she is so amazing! And loves the snow which is normally a turn off but….ahhh, she is amazing.”

Asami chuckled to herself and was about to mention both her and Korra knew Opal until she was distracted by Bolin pushing himself onto his feet. “I gotta – I gotta pee.” Bolin managed to make one step before he tripped over his feet and fell to the floor.

Leaning over the table, Mako and Asami looked at Bolin before looking at each other. “Do you think he’s alright?”

Mako shrugged, “He’s still breathing so I guess so...”

Helping Mako get his brother into the back of the cab was no easy feat, he was heavy and really drunk but they managed it. With a sigh Mako – who was only tipsy – gave Asami a gentle smile and ran his hand across her arm. That was when it hit her. That was what she liked about Mako all those years ago, his sincere smile that only came out on rare occasions. “Thanks for helping me, I didn’t realise Bolin was that drunk.”

With a shrug Asami flipped her hair back. “Its fine, you probably didn’t notice because you are close to being hammered yourself.”

“What about you? Need a lift?”

Lifting up her helmet, Asami smiled. “No I’m good, got my own ride remember.”

“Can you still ride? You drank a lot.”

Nodding, Asami took a step back towards her bike. “I only drank coke Mako.”

“Not alcohol?”

“Nope just coke.” Truth is ever since her father’s death, Asami only felt comfortable drinking when no driving was involved. Before she was fine after one drink, but now…even the thought of having one drink and getting behind the wheel scared her.

Putting on her helmet, Asami smiled at her friend through the partially open visor. “See you next week yeah?”

“Yep…” Mako started to get into the taxi while watching his friend mount her bike. “Give Korra my regards.”

“Of course.”

Starting up her bike, Asami gave Mako a wave before quickly riding off through the streets. Mako had to admit, he still had feelings for the black haired wonder, but he could see how her face lit up when talking about Korra and how her lip quivered at the thought of her not being here. He wasn’t ready to spoil that for her; he knew when to stay back.


	5. Chapter 5

For Korra spending the Winter Solstice without Asami was almost as bad as being stuck in the hospital and having to pee in a bag. She knew thinking like that was stupid but the emotional pain she was feeling far outweighed the physical pain she had felt. Yes Korra was still struggling physically with everything to the point it was driving her crazy, but not having Asami to help her made everything worse.

“ _Korra?_ ”

Looking away from the window, the brunette turned to her father who had a small envelope with a blue and white ribbon in his hand. Korra looked at it with confusion as she swung her legs carefully off the windowsill. “ _What’s that?”_

“ _A present from Asami_.” Tonraq handed the gift over to his daughter before giving off a playful smile. “ _I’ll leave you to read it; you never know it might be something private_.”

His daughter couldn’t help but roll her eyes while trying to hold back a blush, what if it was something private? Maybe she should open it in her room… by the time that thought had passed through her mind Korra had already opened the envelope and pulled out a return plane ticket to Republic City for in three weeks’ time.

Korra bit her lip as she read the note attached, Asami’s handwriting was neat – which was to be expected – with simple lettering. Her blush finally came out when she read over the note.

_I have cleared my schedule and we will be together, alone, for a full two weeks. Can’t wait to see you._

_Asami. xxx_

Two weeks together, alone, with Asami Sato, in her mansion. Korra’s mind was now racing but the only thing her mind managed to settle on was, “Do I need to give my good hand some more practice?”

* * *

 

Suddenly everything was looking up, she was feeling so positive that Korra decided to go for a small run a few days after receiving the gift – with her father of course, he would never let his daughter run on her own while she was still not up to full health.

Breathing was still hard because of the way her lung had been injured, and she still felt mild pain when she took a step but overall Korra felt better than he had in a long time. Leaning forward – with her hands on her knees and her body heaving – Korra let out some sharp breaths while her father rubbed her back in worry. “ _You alright Korra?_ ”

Korra nodded before and took another laboured breath before standing. “ _Yeah, just a bit tired that’s all._ ”

“ _Well you did well, especially since it has been so long since you’ve walked fast, let alone run._ ”

Rubbing her arm across her sweating forehead, the woman nodded. “ _Yeah, I am happy with myself…_ ” Korra paused and looked up at her dad who was smiling with pride. “ _Dad, do you think I could try boarding?_ ”

“ _I don’t see why not, I mean we should probably stick to a nursery slope but it is worth a try…if you are up for it that is_.”

Korra nodded, she had never felt so up for snowboarding in her life. That was until she got onto the slope two days later. The slope was small, almost completely flat and Korra knew this but it didn’t stop the fear in her mind when she stood at the top. The last time she put on a board was a year ago and she had almost died. What if something happened again? What if she fell and broke something? What if –

Screaming at herself internally, Korra shook her head, no, she was going to be fine. Korra bit her lip to the point of almost drawing blood; it’s just a small slope. Then the thoughts started to plague her mind.

What if I fall?

Then I get back up.

Korra tried to swallow her worry but instead felt sickness build up in her stomach.

What if someone crashes into me?

There is only me and dad on the slope.

Korra’s hands started to shake.

What if – what if –

She had lost all control, her breathing became laboured – more than normal – her head was swimming with confused thoughts yet they all gave the same message, fear, pain, death. She couldn’t handle it.

Dropping to her knees Korra started to hyperventilate, which caused Tonraq to quickly sit by his daughters side and rub her back while trying to give her as much encouragement as possible. He never thought his daughter would have such a severe panic attack over something she loved so dearly. Perhaps all of his friends were right, she never would board again.

Biting his lip, Tonraq wasted no time in removing the board from his daughter’s feet and helping her back to their home.

“ _What happened?_ ” Senna asked as she ran her fingers through her husband’s hair.

He sighed and sat back in the sofa, his eyes glancing towards Korra’s bedroom. It had been four hours and she still hadnt left her room. “ _She had a panic attack while trying to snowboard._ ”

“ _Panic attack? But that is so unlike Korra_.”

“ _I know, the accident must have affected her more than we all expected_.”

“ _Will she be alright?_ ”

Tonraq took Senna’s hands and gazed into her blue eyes with an encouraging smile. “ _Of course she will be Senna, Korra is our daughter and she can get through anything. It just might take some time_.”

* * *

 

As the days past Korra started to spiral into a pit of depression and anxiety. She knew that time would heal her, help her but time was something Korra didn’t feel she had. The panic attacks became more frequent, often forcing her to lock herself in her room anywhere from an hour to several. All Korra wanted to do was get better, keeping herself calm and happy for Asami – especially since she knew nothing about the attacks – but she just couldn’t.  

The more Korra thought about trying to keep her anxiety under control the more depressed she became, something which Asami quickly noticed. “Korra, what’s wrong?”

Pulling her holdall out of the trunk of Asami’s car Korra shook her head. “Nothing why?”

Biting her lip, Asami wrapped her arms around Korra. “You just seem…down, a little distant. You didn’t speak for the whole car journey.”

Looking up at the large Sato Mansion behind her, Korra swallowed her worry. She would be lying if she didn’t say that the thought of seeing Asami again made her a little anxious and that after her first panic attack many followed for seemingly no reason…but she wasn’t prepared to tell Asami that. Not yet.

“ _I’m scared I’m losing myself…losing you._ ”

“What?”

Forcing a smile on her face, Korra placed a quick kiss on her girlfriend’s nose before taking a step back. “Nothing, I am just tired from the flight, that’s all.”

“Then I will make you some coffee.”

Korra laughed and nodded as the couple entered the mansion hand-in-hand. She wasn’t sure why, but Asami’s home felt different, bigger almost, too big and empty. Korra knew that it was the same as before, but ever since she’s been having panic attacks everything felt wrong, either so big  to crush her or so small to suffocate. “If you want you can just dump your stuff in my room and I’ll come back with some coffee.”

With another nod, Korra made it to Asami’s bedroom. Its beige walls decorated with numerous posters of cars and movies while her queen sized bed had a large Attack on Titan blanket laid over the foot. Running her fingers across the scout symbol the brunette giggled, she always found it amusing just how geeky Asami was despite her professional demeanour.

Letting out a pleased hum, Korra leapt back onto the large bed, sighing happily as the soft mattress almost absorbed her. And that’s when she saw them…why did she not remember from the last visit? On the wall before Asami’s walk-in wardrobe were posters, pictures and drawings all to do with winter sports.

Korra’s chest started to feel tight, but she couldn’t help herself she just had to walk closer. Making her way to a series of shelves, she ran her fingers across numerous skiing and skeleton medals and trophies. A breath hitched in her throat as so many thoughts started to rattle in her mind, this could have been her, she could have won if it wasn’t for Kuvira.

“Asami’s right, it’s good she’s dead.” Immediately Korra slammed her hands against her mouth while her body started to heave and shake. No she didn’t mean it.

Korra was now starting to lose control, her mind was swimming her lungs were hardly working, this was dangerous. This is not how she wanted to start her time with Asami, she had to calm down.

Asami couldn’t see her like this, no no... “Oh my spirits, Korra?” All Korra could do was mentally scream how sorry she was to her girlfriend.

It wasn’t until Asami’s arms were around Korra and her voice kept telling her to calm down did she realise she had fallen to the floor with her fists gripping and tugging at her short hair.

Eventually Asami was able to calm her girlfriend down and bring her to the bed where they shared a pot of tea – after Asami decided perhaps coffee was not right for this situation. “So what happened?”

Korra kept her eyes to the cup in her hand, watching as each slight movement caused a ripple in the pale liquid. She wanted to look up at Asami, but was too frightened to just in case her gaze wandered back over to that wall. “It uh – I had a panic attack.” Korra’s grip tightened on the cup. “I have been having them since I tried to snowboard.”

“You tried to snowboard, why didn’t you tell me?” Asami noticed how Korra froze and became stiff, out of fear or anger she wasn’t quite sure. “Right, never mind that… why did the panic attacks first start?”

“I was scared that if I boarded again the same thing would happen as before…that I would fail, that I would get hurt. It reminded me of what I had lost thanks to Kuvira.”

“But what about what you have also gained?” Korra smiled when she felt Asami’s hand brush against her own. Asami was right, she might have lost a lot after the accident but she is alive, happy and has an amazing girlfriend.

Taking a deep breath, Korra looked up at Asami in readiness to thank her but without warning her eyes were immediately drawn to the wall again. Watching as Korra became stiff once more and panic filled her eyes, Asami followed her gaze. “Oh shit.”

Without another word Asami quickly rushed over to her wall and took down every picture, poster, drawing, trophy and medal before tucking them into the back of her wardrobe. Turning back to her girlfriend who was now taking deep breaths to calm herself down, Asami smiled sweetly. “I’m sorry about that.”

“No no, don’t be sorry. I didn’t think seeing all that…even if they weren’t mine, would be so hard.”

Settling herself next to Korra once again, Asami placed a light kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. “I am here for you Korra, you know that right? I want to help you with this, just if you can, try not to hide these things from me again.” Korra nodded. “Now do you want to relax or go and explore?”

“Relax for today and explore tomorrow.”

“You got it.”

* * *

 

For the rest of the time Korra and Asami were together the brunette was able to keep her panic attacks down to a minimum, she never realised just how much of a calming effect Asami had on her. They spent days going around Republic City, the Future Industries factory; they even visited the old Air Temple Island where Opal worked part-time as a tour guide.

Korra couldn’t have been happier, but there was one thing that was gnawing in the pit of her stomach, or should she say throbbing between her legs. The couple had yet to have sex despite coming close a few times, and it was starting to drive them both crazy. Asami would never admit to it, but Korra could see in the way her legs rubbed together when they made out, or the way her hips bucked and her breaths became shallow when Korra’s lips pressed against her neck. They were both horny beyond belief and Korra hoped that now they were alone it would be the perfect opportunity to delve deeper into the relationship.

It was about three in the afternoon and the couple were having a lazy day, just watching TV – Korra in a pair of girl boxers and a tank top, while Asami was settled in a pair of pyjama shorts and matching shirt – when Asami gave Korra a kiss. This was innocent to start with, just a quick peck to show affection until Korra ran her fingers through the thick mass of black hair and pulled Asami deeper into the kiss.

Within a blink of an eye Asami had already straddled Korra, her bare lips brushing against her neck while her fingers wondered up her top. She stops for a moment, looking at Korra. “May I?”

Korra bites her lip for a moment before nodding and speaking, her voice coming out almost as a squeak because of nerves. “Yes, yes you can.”

Using her nails, Asami lightly ran them up the length of Korra’s stomach as she pushed up her top. Asami was amazed at how well toned Korra’s stomach was, it was clear she had been exercising almost fully again and was as muscular as she once claimed to be.

Dropping down, so her knees were on the ground and her face by Korra’s Goddess-like stomach, Asami started to place a trail of kisses upwards – while once and a while trying to hold back a laugh because Korra’s outie bellybutton was just too cute.

Biting her lip, Korra tried to hold back her moans until she felt the warm wetness of Asami’s mouth wrapping around her hardened nipple. And that is when her mind started to race, she wasn’t sure what started it but once again she started to panic. Part of her wanted this to continue, for her and Asami to finally have sex, but the other part – the one in most control – was having a mega freak out.

Clearly noticing that Korra was struggling with her breathing, Asami quickly moved away from Korra’s breast and pulled her top down before sitting by her girlfriend’s side. Taking hold of her hand and giving in a comforting squeeze, Asami smiled. “Do you not want to do this?” Korra shook her head while she struggled to breathe. “Well then there is no pressure, I will not do anything until we are both okay with it… alright?” Korra nodded, her breathing starting to level out.

When the brunette finally managed to take control of her emotions and breathing she let out an annoyed groan, pushing the heels on her hands against her eyes. “Spirits, I royally fucked up.”

“Korra, you didn’t fuck up. Clearly you weren’t ready and I accept that.”

“Not ready?” Korra’s mouth dropped. “Not ready?” She almost shouted out, “Do you have any idea how wet I am? Like really wet, like I really wanna just….ugh…”

Asami said nothing for a short while, instead watched as Korra groaned and blushed while trying to keep her own blush down. She had not expected Korra to say something quite as blunt as that, but then again it was Korra. “Trust me Korra I uh – I understand, but I don’t want to do anything until you are ready. Despite your body clearly being ready…” Asami couldn’t help but take a quick glance down and notice a small dark spot on the crotch of Korra’s blue boxers. “Clearly your mind is not ready.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

“Don’t worry; we can wait as long as needed. Spirits, even if you never become ready I will still be by your side and never expect anything.”

“Seriously?” Korra’s mouth nearly dropped open.

Sitting back in the sofa, Asami picked up the remote and changed the channel. “Yup seriously, because that is how much you mean to me Korra and sex isn’t everything in a relationship.”

“Have – have you had sex before?”

Asami didn’t reply at first, choosing to flick through a couple more channels before nodding. She knew where this conversation was going and she didn’t like it. “Once…but with a guy.”

There was a silence, an almost uncomfortable silence. So much so that Asami said the one word she never wanted to say to Korra. “Mako.”

Letting out a small hum, Korra pushed herself deeper into the sofa, her fingers drumming on her thigh as if trying to come up with something to say. “So you two dated?”

“Briefly, like really briefly, less than a month…it never really worked out.” Understatement of the century, he was always too busy kissing other girls to really pay attention to her.

“What was it like?” Asami looked at Korra with a raised eyebrow of confusion. “The sex I mean.”

Asami had to stifle a laugh. “Underwhelming.” It was awful, really awful. Asami couldn’t understand why girls liked him so much, he was stubborn, easily angered, and even his eyebrows were weird. So she thought, well perhaps he was good in bed, that’s why they all loved him. Nope, not even close – which is where Asami was after the ten minutes of him fumbling around. He wasn’t like Korra, she was brave, kind, funny, sexy as hell and she bet that sex with her would be memorable in the best of ways.

“Really? Why?”

Lifting up her hand, Asami wiggled her little finger while laughing. It took a few times of Korra looking from her finger, to her face and back again before she let out her own laugh. “Wow.”

“Yeah, I swear yours would be bigger.”

Puffing out her chest and pressing her hands against her hips, Korra did a crooked smirk. “My large penis has pleasured many a woman and not once have they left unsatisfied.”

Asami at back with her eyebrow raised and her arms crossed. “Really?”

Korra slumped, “No.”

The couple looked at each other for a moment, they weren’t sure whether to laugh or kiss, so they ended up doing both for a good couple of hours.

* * *

 

Many hours later, as they walked out of the cinema – with Korra looking pale and freaked out – Asami took her girlfriends hand and chuckled lightly, “Oh come on Korra it wasn’t that scary.”

“Not that scary? Asami there were zombies! ZOMBIES that that, were eating people and…spirits it was awful!” With a deep exhale Korra ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm her heart down. At that moment she wasn’t sure what was worse, having a panic attack over snowboarding or nearly pissing yourself because of a horror movie.

“So what do you want to eat?”

Korra looked up at Asami with a slight raised eyebrow. “Anything that doesn’t remind me of brains, blood or human entrails.”

“Burger it is then.”

The burger place was small and quite dark, at first Korra wasn’t convinced by Asami’s choice, thinking it was more a place that guys doing bad things would go, but Asami knew the City better than her so she had to believe her. Looking down the menu Korra’s mouth fell open; they had meat, good meat, like meat that in a normal burger place you would never dream of getting. “Did I read that right, is that…venison?”

Asami looks over to where Korra is pointing before nodding. “Yup.”

“What kind of burger place is this?”

“The best in town.” Asami answered before standing up from her seat. “You know what you want?”

“A venison burger with all toppings, a side of beetroot crisps and a…hmm, I’ll have a chocolate milkshake.” With a smile and a nod Asami went over to the counter to order. Sitting back in her seat Korra watched as Asami leant her arms against the wooden counter top, with her hip cocked and her backside sticking out slightly. She had to bite her lip to hold back her smile because Asami’s ass in those tight black jeans was just – wow. Korra really had to control her gazes when her girlfriend came walking back, drinks in hand and a sway in her step, at that moment she was starting to regret having a panic attack when trying to have sex.

“Get a nice view?” Asami smirked as she sat down.

“Wha – what do you mean?”

“Oh come on Korra, I saw you staring.” Leaning closer, Asami brushed her lips against the corner of Korra’s mouth. “You are such a pervert at times.”

“I know.” Korra mumbled as their lips pressed together. “But you love it.”

“I do.”

* * *

 

“I swear I don’t know how many times I can listen to the words ‘do the thing’ before I rip his poor attempt at a moustache off his face.”

Trying to hold back a laugh in fear of choking on her burger, Korra nodded before swallowing. “I can see why that would get annoying. But what I don’t get is why you do so much engineering work? Like if you are the head of the company then surely you have hired engineers to do all that messy work.”

Taking a quick sip of her Coke, Asami shrugged. “Yeah but I’m not gonna lie I don’t fully trust their skill level. Varrick is odd, but he is a genius and I believe if we work together we can really make a leap in technology. So while I run the company with the help of the board, and I use the currently employed engineers to keep working on the vehicles we make, Varrick and I work on more complex ideas.”

Resting her elbows on the table and her head in her hands, Korra smiled at her girlfriend. She always admired how smart and driven she was. “What sort of ideas?”

Pressing her finger playfully against Korra’s nose, Asami smirked. “Top secret.”

“But what about sports?” Korra picked up a beetroot crisp, staring at its deep purple colour while trying to keep a smile on her face. “You’ve been so busy with work will you have time to train and compete?”

“I’m thinking of retiring.”

“What?” Korra almost screamed out causing some other diners to look at her in slight annoyance.

Asami tried her best to smile and show Korra that this decision wasn’t hurting her, but Korra could see the sadness in her green eyes and the way the corner of her lips didn’t quite pull up as high as normal. “I won’t stop doing things like skiing, I might even do the skeleton once and a while but it will be purely for enjoyment, not for medals.”

“But you love competing.”

“I do, but I always knew sport would not be a career for me. I need to keep Future Industries running, you understand that, right?”

Korra nodded before being distracted by the ringing of Asami’s phone. At first Asami ignored it, clearly hoping it would go to answer phone but after a few seconds of continuous ringing she finally pulled it from her pocket. Her shoulders slumped when she looked at the screen. “Who is it?”

“Work…”

Asami was about to press the ‘End Call’ button when Korra stopped her. “You should answer it, it might be an emergency. From what you told me about Varrick I wouldn’t be surprised if something exploded.”

With an obviously worried chuckle, Asami agreed and answered the phone. “Zhu Li, what’s wrong? Yup…uh-huh….but he’s not hurt….did you throw a spanner at him for it?...No? Shame….Yeah, give me twenty minutes.”

Letting out a deep and frustrated sigh, Asami ended the call before giving her girlfriend an apologetic look. “Was I right?”

“More right than I wanted you to be. They really need me to get to the factory.” Asami glanced down at the half-eaten burger of Korra’s. “Do you wanna come or – ”

Korra shook her head. “Nah, you’ll be able to concentrate better without me there. I’ll just finish my food and take a cab back to yours.”

With another apologetic look, Asami gave Korra enough cash for the cab since dinner had already been paid and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Alright. Good luck.”

Asami threw on her leather jacket and made her way towards the door. “Thanks.”      

And there Korra was, sat on her own in a strange place with the King of all burgers on her plate, but it didn’t matter because across from her was an empty seat. Taking only a few more bites of her meal, Korra swiftly pulled on her hoodie before leaving.

Once outside the boarder looked around for a little, exploring the less crowded streets of Republic City. Everything around her was so loud yet quiet, like white noise playing in the background. As she got into more open streets people rushed by her like they left the oven on, not a single person paying attention to her. It was quite enjoyable.

The cobbled roads had a thin layer of snow over its surface which was quickly spoilt by passing cars and trucks. Back home everything was so white all the time, so clean looking yet here everything looked dark, brown, dirty…real. This was the City she saw in the movies, the City she spent many years of her childhood dreaming about, and now she was here, in a place that within a small space of time felt like home.

After a good hour walking around the streets aimlessly, Korra eventually thought about taking a cab back to Sato Mansion. Instead as she made her way to the edge of the street her eyes wandered over to a teenager with a skateboard. She didn’t know why, but she pulled her fingers up to her lips and whistled until the boy looked at her. “Hey kid!” She shouted before pulling cash from her back pocket. “I’ll give you fifty for your board.”

The teen looked at his friends before looking back at Korra. With a nod he quickly ran across the street and they exchanged goods. “Don’t see why you want my board, it’s shit.”

“I can tell.” Korra laughed out before putting the purple and white board on the floor. “But it’s been a while since I’ve had a set of wheels and it seems like a nice night to skate. Thanks for the board.”

“Thanks for the cash.”

With a nod and a smile Korra made her way down the streets of Republic City until she reached Sato Mansion twenty minutes later. Putting her board in the entrance hall, Korra ran upstairs where she changed into her pyjamas and settled herself into Asami’s bed. Leaning back against the padded headboard, Korra picked up her laptop and started to browse Tumblr before she got a text from Asami. “Sorry, going to be here longer than I had planned. Don’t wait up.” Korra replied a quick ‘okie’ before going back to Tumblr. “ _Porn…porn….lesbians….fan art…Natalie Dor – oh wow…_ ”

* * *

 

Korra didn’t realise she had fallen asleep, clutching her laptop for warmth until she heard the door of the bedroom close with a slight click. “Asami?” Korra groaned as she sat up and watched as Asami changed into her pyjamas.

“Sorry Korra, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Wha – what time is it?”

Taking the laptop off the bed before sliding under the covers, Asami ran her fingers through Korra’s hair. “3am, go back to sleep.”

Korra nodded while letting her head rest on the chest of Asami. The deep thuds of her heart making Korra feel safe, at home…sleepy. “So what happened?” Korra yawned as Asami traced patterns on the back on her neck.

“Varrick being Varrick, that’s all, there is nothing to worry about. By the way, was that a skateboard in my hallway?”

Korra yawned again before allowing her eyes to slowly close. “Yeah, I used your cash for the board. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind.” When Asami felt Korra’s body slump and become heavy she smiled and whispered, “I love you Korra.”

* * *

 

Getting annoyed at the rate Korra’s leg was bouncing up and down from nerves; Tonraq placed his hand on it, stopping the movement instantly. “ _Please Korra, stop it_.”

“ _I’m sorry dad, I’m just nervous. Last time I had an operation I was already unconscious and can’t remember anything…this time….this time it is my choice and it scares me. What if my hand becomes worse…what if…_ ” Korra’s knee starts to shake again, even under the pressure of her father’s hand.

“ _Korra, everything will be fine, these are great Doctors and they know what they are doing._ ”

“Korra?” Korra looked up at a smiling nurse with a clipboard. “If you want to follow me, I will take you to your bed and we can get you ready.”

With a bite of her lip and a deep exhale, Korra followed the nurse with hand tightly gripped onto Tonraqs hand. He couldn’t help but smile, it had been years since Korra held her hand; it was still so small in his. Giving her hand a comforting squeeze, he smiled at his daughter in a way to tell her she is safe. Sitting on her bed, Korra was given a gown to dress into – which she did not like since she was worried about showing the world her backside – before being asked a serious of questions by a nurse. “Have you had any problems with anaesthesia before?”

Korra shook her head, “Not that I can remember.”

“When did you last have your period?”

Korra’s mouth dropped open as a blush started to build in her cheeks. She knew this was part of the nurse’s job, and the fact that she was female should help things but still, it felt like a very private question. “Just over two weeks ago.”

The nurse nodded and wrote on her notes before passing a small vile to her patient. “Now I am going to need you to give me a urine sample.”

“Uh…why?”

“To check that you aren’t pregnant.”

“But I just told you I had my period two weeks ago.”

With a shrug the nurse moved towards the curtain around Korra’s bed. “I know but you could have gotten pregnant between then and now, plus it is just standard procedure. So please pee in the cup, leave it on the bedside and I will be back to pick it up and put in a cannula.”

Once the nurse had left, Korra stared at the empty container before grunting. She was not looking forward to this.

Korra had to wait another two hours before she was finally brought into the theatre prep room, she was trying all she could to keep calm, not to have a panic attack and the nurses could tell she was less that comfortable. The anaesthetist put a hand on Korra’s shoulder and smiled, “You don’t have to worry, we are here to keep an eye on you, alright?” Korra nodded.

Picking up a syringe, the anaesthetist smiled again before placing it in the cannula on Korra’s hand. “Now you will feel a bit funny for a few seconds, but that’s normal.”

As the liquid moved into Korra’s blood stream he groaned and the feeling of a cold burn run up her arm and towards her chest. “So Korra…” She looked at the woman again, her eyes starting to become heavy. “Do you study, or anything?”

“No…I quit school when I was 17, now I am – I was a snowboar –”

With a groan Korra opened her eyes to see bright lights hanging above her. “Look who’s awake.” Korra glanced to her left to see nurse getting off her stool and leaning over the bars on Korra’s bed. “How you feeling?”

“ _Fine…_ ” Korra started in one language before switching to another when she realised what the nurse was speaking. Despite it being the South Pole, not many people speak its traditional language anymore. “Where am I?”

“Just in recovery, you’ll be here for another ten minutes or so until you are ready to be moved to the ward.”

“Ward?” Korra glanced down at her arm that was covered in thick bandages. “Oh yeah…Uh, I don’t feel so great.”

After a good twenty minutes had past and Korra had gotten over her large bout of nausea thanks to the anaesthetic, she was finally wheeled into the ward where her father and mother had been waiting. Senna smiled sweetly at her daughter while running her fingers through her hair – it needed washing because of the sweat Korra had produced from vomiting – Senna was just happy that Korra was smiling back.

“How you feeling sweetie?” Tonraq asked while his eyes looked over to her wrapped hand.

“Good…my throat hurts.”

“She vomited a bit after she woke up, but she should be fine. What we are going to do is keep her in overnight to make sure she doesn’t have any more reactions to the anaesthetic then she will be free to go.” The nurse said with a smile before placing the chart on the end of Korra’s bed. “Any questions?”

“How – ” Korra started before licking her dry lips with an almost dry tongue. “How long will it take for my – my hand to heal?”

“The dressings should be off within a week, from there we will put a special support glove on for another few weeks. After that you will have physiotherapist and should be back to normal.” The nurse looked up to Senna and Tonraq before pushing her glasses up her nose. “I reckon by October her hand will be almost back to normal.”

When Korra was finally able to take her brace off after four weeks she could already feel a large difference in her hand. She knew it was weak…call it a gut feeling, but she knew she was going to get much more use out of her hand now. She just wished the surgery didn’t leave behind a large scar down the back of her hand and several others on her fingers.

However, just like the nurse had said to her family after the surgery, by October her hand was back to fully use, mostly. It still wasn’t as strong as her other, and she knew the chances of that happening were slim, but at least Korra was now able to pick up a pencil and masturbate – not at the same time – without much trouble. For the first time in quite a while Korra felt happy, almost like she was back to normal. Even her panic attacks had stopped…or at least they do until she tries to board. There was still something mentally stopping her.

* * *

 

Korra hardly heard her phone ring through the sound of her harmonica, but before the person on the other side hung up she quickly accepted the call and thrust it against her ear a little too hard. “Ello?” She grunted, trying to hold back the sound of pain.

“Korra? Hi, it’s Opal.”

Pushing herself back on her chair and throwing her legs up on the desk, Korra smiled. “Hey Opal, what’s up?”

“Not much, just checking you and your parents are alright with me coming over next week?”

“We are, we even bought those shitty vegetarian sausages you eat.”

Korra smiled at the sound of Opal laughing on the other end. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I didn’t…mom did, she’s good that way. To be totally honest I had forgotten about you coming over.”

“Sounds about right.” Opal said in a teasing voice which caused Korra to stick her tongue out – totally forgetting she is on the phone and not on Skype. “Hey, do you have some spare boards?”

“Snowboards? Yeah we do, why?”

“I’ve just been thinking perhaps when I am over we can board a little. Nothing too extreme, just a little meander.”

Korra’s heart felt like it stopped. She threw her legs off the desk and used her free hand to grip the edge of her desk. The last thing she wanted was to board and have a panic attack in front of her friend. “Opal I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Korra, I know you are scared about having another panic attack but don’t worry, I have a way to help.”

“Opal – ”

“Trust me Korra, you will be fine.”

Korra nodded to herself. “Alright, talk to you later?”

“Yeah sure.”

“Bye.” Before Opal had the chance to give her own goodbyes Korra had already ended the call and thrown her phone across to her bed.

* * *

 

Looking up at the arrivals gate, Korra waved at Opal as she walked out, a backpack over her shoulder and an older man walking besides her. Furrowing her brow, Korra carefully watched as the tall, fairly muscular man with a shaved head and a rather large scar across his eyebrow kept talking to her friend. “Opal.” Korra called out, catching her attention.

Opal immediately ran over to Korra, pulling her into a hug while the man followed. “Korra, how are you?”

“I’m good thanks, you?”

Taking a step back, Opal smiled and tugged on her backpack. “I’m fine, bit of a hair-raising flight with the wind but nothing we can’t handle.” Looking back at the man in a grey jumper and sweatpants, Opal smiled.

“Opal, please tell me this isn’t you boyfriend…he looks a little old.” Korra whispered to her friend before being hit playfully on the shoulder.

“No no no, this is my boarding coach Zaheer. I think he might be able to help you overcome your fear of snowboarding.”

Crossing her arms Korra bit her lip. “I don’t have a fear of snowboarding.” Even saying the word made her stomach feel unsettled. “I’ve just had a few hiccups, that’s all.”

Taking a step forward, Zaheer extended his hand out to Korra which after a few deep breaths she accepted. “Korra it is a delight to meet you. You’ve been big talk in the snow sports world; people have been inspired with how well you’ve been recovering.”

Korra pulled her hand away from the man and pushed it in her pocket. “Well if they really knew what was going on then they wouldn’t think that.”

“That I why I am here, to prove to you that what those people are thinking are not simply stories created by the media, but fact. I have seen you board Korra and you have skill and determination…I admit you might never been on the level to compete again, but that is no reason for you to give up. You need to show all those young children that if you fall it is not the end, you can get up and keep going.”

Looking down at the floor Korra started to feel tiny. Ever since she was a child all she ever wanted was to snowboard, she watched as her elders did the same, they were an inspiration to her…but her be an inspiration to others?

Korra sighed; she couldn’t see that ever being possible. However Zaheer was right, she can’t live with her fears anymore, she needed to move on, she needed to board.

“Alright, if you think you can help then fine. Come on, dads car is this way.” Turning on her heels, Korra left with Opal and Zaheer following.

It took Opal and Zaheer three days to finally convince Korra to put on her snow gear and come with them to the nursery slope where she first had her panic attack. When Korra got there she felt good, her body was healthy, her mind clear, even the weather was pleasant but she couldn’t get rid of this nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“You ready?” Zaheer asked, taking hold of Korra’s hands. Korra nodded.

Shifting his weight slightly, Zaheer started to slide down the less than steep mountain side, urging Korra to follow. She stiffened up and she could feel her heart racing. “Korra…Korra, look at me.”

Korra looked up from her boots to Zaheer who had a stern yet gentle look on his face. “You cannot be scared anymore.”

“But what if – ”

“If something happens then it happens. I can guarantee you that you fell hundreds of time before that crash and that you will fall hundreds of times after but you cannot let that stop you.” Zaheer slid further down and without expecting it, Korra slowly followed. “You need to accept what happened to you, it was bad yes, but you are still alive and that is what matters.”

Korra stiffened up again. “I almost died…”

“Yes you did, but you cannot hold onto the fear of what might have been otherwise it is impossible to live. You have no need to be afraid anymore.”

Taking a deep breath Korra nodded before slowly edging herself away from Zaheer. Pointing the tip of her board down Korra started to go down the nursery slope. It felt odd, Korra thought it would feel fast, overwhelming yet it felt natural, like she had not forgotten anything. Her mind still tingled with memories of the accident but she didn’t feel anxious. Zaheer was right; she didn’t need to be afraid.

Looking up the slope – causing Korra to laugh because it was basically flat – Korra waved at Opal and Zaheer. “I wanna go bigger!”

Opal looked at the taller man with slight worry and he just laughed. “Of course, but I suggest just easy blue slopes, no more than that, your body still needs to get used to boarding again.”

* * *

 

“What’s up buttercup?”

Korra raised her eyebrow at Asami who was smiling happily on her laptop screen. “What?”

Asami looked at her half-full glass of wine and placed it down on the desk. “Sorry, I think I am slightly tipsy. So, what was it that you were so eager to tell me about?”

“Well…” Korra started before pushing up the sleeves of her jumper. “Opal and Zaheer – you know her coach I told you about – took me onto the slopes today.”

For a moment Asami’s face dropped and she took quick swig of wine. “Were you alright? Did you – you know, have another panic attack?”

“No…well kinda…almost. Zaheer managed to help me understand that I had no need to live in fear and with that…poof…got onto my board and was sliding away.”

“Oh.”

That was not the reaction that Korra was expecting. Leaning closer to the screen, with her chest resting on her arms, Korra pouted. “Asami, what’s wrong? I thought you’d be, I dunno, happy to hear that I can board again.”

“I am…I am, trust me. It’s just – ” Asami ran her finger across the rim of her glass while trying to come up with the right explanation without sounding like a complete selfish bitch. With a deep sigh she shrugged, deciding there was no right way of saying it. “I wanted to be the one to fix you.”

“Fix me?”

That came out even worse than she had planned. “No no, I don’t mean fix, you never needed fixing. Help – that is what I was aiming for. It might be selfish but I wanted to be the one to help you. I am your girlfriend and it felt kinda like, I dunno my duty of sorts to help you through it all.”

Pushing her teeth into her lip, Korra nodded. She could understand what Asami was trying to explain but Korra couldn’t wait forever for Asami to help her, nor could she always rely on her. It was time to change the subject. “So, are you still coming over for the Winter Solstice?”

“Yep, got my flight booked for in two weeks…I just need to you know, pluck up the courage to get on the plane on my own.”

“I really don’t understand why you don’t like flying.”

“If humans were supposed to fly we would have evolved wings.”

“Says the engineer who makes planes, cars, tanks and robots. Do you think we should have evolved wheels and armour?”

Asami furrowed her brow for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Touché Korra, touché. So I’ll talk to you later right?”

“Yup, I’ll text you.” With quick exchanges of smiles Korra hit the end call button and sat back in her chair.

After a few minutes Korra huffed dramatically before making her way to the shower to calm down. She didn’t like how recently Asami and her have been so distant. Korra could understand Asami being slightly frustrated that she couldn’t help her board again but she’s in a different country…how is she supposed to help? Throwing her clothes over the radiator, Korra shook her head. “No, that’s not fair, Asami is doing the best she can with the company, it’s not right to be annoyed at her for being away.”

Turning on the shower Korra let her hand under the water waiting for the right temperature. She hissed out slightly as the warming water hit her scars, they might have been fully healed but they were still sensitive.

Stepping inside the tray, Korra immediately placed her neck under the fast patter of water while her fingers traced invisible patterns across the white tiles. When she thought about it, Korra was actually really looking forward to having her girlfriend in her bed again. And at that moment that was all that mattered.


	6. Chapter 6

Humming to the tune of ‘Still into You’, Korra did a couple of pull ups on a bar in her room when the sound of her door opening cutting through the chorus caught her attention. Looking towards the threshold Korra’s jaw dropped along with Asami’s. Korra didn’t expect Asami to be here so early and Asami didn’t expect to see Korra wearing just a sports bra and shorts with her muscles rippling and covered in a light layer of sweat.

Dropping to the floor, the shorter woman walked over to her girlfriend with half a smile and half a confused look. “Asami, what are you doing here? You weren’t supposed to come for another two days.”

“I know but I wanted to surprise you.” Asami looked down to Korra’s ripped stomach and without thinking ran her fingers across the defined muscles. “And I think I arrived at the right time.”

Before anymore words were exchanged, Asami was already sat on the edge of Korra’s bed with the smaller woman straddling her waist. Their lips moved together in hunger, it had been far too long since they last saw, tasted and touched each other.

Korra could feel a similar need build inside her like the last time the couple were together, but as of yet no panic was setting in which is a good sign. It didn’t take long for Korra to start grinding up against her girlfriend while sucking on her bottom lip playfully. “Spirits I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Asami groaned back as Korra started to move down her neck.

Then with impeccable timing Senna knocked on the door and quietly called through the wood, “Asami, Korra, time to wash up, dinner will be in ten minutes.”

Pressing her forehead against Asami’s shoulder, Korra couldn’t help but laugh. “I should have known that was going to happen.”

Letting out a playful laugh, Asami pushed her girlfriend off her lap causing her to fall in a pile on the floor. “Come on, dinner time.”

“I know what I would rather have.” Korra said, licking her lip as she got up from the floor.

“Pervert.”

“You love it.”

Standing at the door with a raised eyebrow, Asami tried to look as unamused as possible. “One day you will say something else to that.”

Patting Asami’s arm, Korra laughed. “And when that day comes the world will end.”

Asami watched as Korra slipped past her, still in a bra and shorts. “Aren’t you going to put on a shirt?”

“Nope, I want you to see my sexy body as we have dinner.”

Brushing her fingers through her hair, Asami exhaled and tried to hold back a blush. “She is going to be the death of me.”

* * *

 

After a wonderful dinner, the family sat watching TV while Korra wrapped her arms around Asami’s body. Their fingers entwined as Asami settled further between her girlfriend’s legs and sighed. “What’s wrong?” Korra quietly asked, her eyes looking away from the TV.

“Nothing.” Asami started before looking up into Korra’s eyes. “I’m just happy.”

Looking over at the young couple, Senna smiled at her husband. “ _They look so in love.”_  She said in almost a whisper.

“ _They do._ ” Tonraq said slightly louder which caused Korra to look over at her parents – who were also cuddled together – in suspicion.

“I know you are talking about us…what did you say?”

“That your hair needs cutting.” Senna replied in a flat tone as her eyes wandered back over to the show.

Korra raised her eyebrow at her parents before she jumped slightly at Asami’s fingers running through her hair. “She’s right, it does need cutting.” Asami let out a giggle when she removed her hand and Korra’s hair fell into her eyes, prompting her to blow it out of the way. “If you want I’ll cut it.”

“Now?” Korra groaned out.

“If we don’t do it now you will never let me do it.”

“But I just got comfy.”

Nodding, Asami turned away. “Alright, we can do it later.”

The couple turned silent again for a few moments until Asami started shifting in her seat. Shifting back, her body pressed up against Korra’s crotch before she moved again, brushing up. The feeling caused Korra to blush deeply.

Asami became still again, but only for a couple of minutes before moving so she was half sat on Korras good leg and her head resting on her shoulder. Korra tried not to look slightly uncomfortable but couldn’t keep up the charade when Asami’s breath touched her neck. Jumping up – almost pushing Asami onto the floor – Korra started to walk towards the bathroom. “Fine, I’ll let you do it now.”

Senna looked up at Asami – who had a proud smile on her face – before giving her a thumbs-up. When Asami walked after Korra, Tonraq looked at his wife with a neutral face. “ _I never thought I would see Korra bend so easily for a girl._ ”

Patting his leg, Senna laughed. “ _Like father like daughter._ ”

“ _What?_ ”

“ _Nothing darling._ ”

* * *

 

Squinting slightly, Asami played with the front of Korra’s hair which she had just cut. Although Korra wasn’t too fussed about how level her pixie cut was, Asami was and wanted to make sure she gave her girlfriend the best haircut she could. “Hmm…yep, that looks good.”

She checked once more before moving away, giving Korra enough time to admire the beauty that is Asami Sato. “You have really nice eyebrows.”

Standing up, Asami unconsciously ran her finger across her eyebrow. “I do?

“Yeah, they are all nice and thin. Not like mine.” Korra furrowed her brow slightly while thinking. It wasn’t that she hated her eyebrows, they suited her face it’s just she wasn’t prone to looking after them and when you are the girlfriend of Asami Sato it makes you feel a bit self-conscious.

“Well I can wax yours is you want.”

Raising an eyebrow, Korra shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Oh yeah, like a bitch.” Asami looked over her shoulder at Korra while she washed the scissors. “But I reckon you can handle it.”

Asami was wrong, really wrong. First Korra whimpered saying the wax was too hot, then she stopped Asami pulling the strips of fabric three times because she was backing out. “Korra, you have no choice but to let me pull it off. You can’t live with it on your eyebrow for the rest of your life.”

Taking in a deep breath, Korra nodded and gripped onto the front of Asami’s shirt. “Alright, do it.”

Using one hand to pull her skin taught, Asami gripped the strip and with one swift movement pulled it away from Korra. It took the brunette less than a second to yelp and almost jump from her seat. “ _Motherfucker_! Shit that hurt.”

“Well that is the price you pay for wanting eyebrows like mine. Now come on, one more to go.”

Korra immediately put up her feet, lightly pressing them against Asami’s stomach. “No no no, you are not coming near my eyebrows again. That shit hurts way too much.”

Dropping her hands to her hips, Asami raised her eyebrow to make a point. “Korra, you can’t go around with one waxed eyebrow. You’ve done it before now and you know it takes seconds, so put your feet down and chill.”

“Only if you make me a hot chocolate afterwards.”

“Deal.”

Slowly Korra put her feet down. If Korra ever wanted to wax the rest of her body that thought had swiftly left her mind, if Asami was fine with her being slightly fuzzy then so was she. There was no way after that day that Korra would let wax go anywhere near her again.

* * *

 

As a few days passed and the Winter Solstice celebration ended, Korra and Asami found themselves playing chess on Korra’s bed in matching duck pyjamas – lovingly given by Korra’s grandma.

Moving her Knight, Asami dropped her eyes to her grey, fuzzy ankle boots before laughing. “So, your grandma is a bit…odd.”

Korra stops herself from moving a piece, instead choosing to tug on sleeve of her top and groaning. “I know.”

“And that beard!”

“I know! God I hope I don’t end up with facial hair like her when I’m that age.” Inhaling, holding her breath for a moment and exhaling, Korra took her girlfriends hand and ran her thumb over her palm “I’m glad you could celebrate the Solstice with us.”

“Me too.”

“It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

Without saying another word – only an exchange of looks – the couple put away the chess board before laying together on the bed, staring at the circular skylight above that gave the a perfect view of both moon and stars. This is where Korra belonged, in the arms of Asami Sato. “Asami?”

“Mmhm?”

“I’ve been thinking…” For a moment Korra expected an ‘uh-oh’ but when it didn’t come she continued, her fingers tracing patterns on Asami’s wrist. “I mean like I know the way our relationship is going it’s a bit…waffy, you know? Like we hardly see each other and we argue a lot over Skype, it’s not – it’s not good for the relationship.”

Pulling away from Korra, Asami lifted herself onto her elbows. “Are you – are you breaking up with me?”

Quickly following Asami, Korra rested on her elbows while attempting to wave her hands in defence. That was completely not what she meant, but like many times before words and logic had failed her. “What? No, no no no, fuck no. Maybe I should have worded all that differently, what I mean to say is – I want to move to Republic City.”

Asami’s mouth fell open and for the first time since putting on the pyjamas she totally forgot how ridiculous she felt, instead she felt like crying with happiness. “Are you serious?”

“I am, very serious. I love being with you Asami and when I am here and you are back home it kills me.”

“What about your parents, or snowboarding?” Asami pleaded with herself to stop talking, stop trying to talk Korra out of it. Asami wanted Korra to be with her in the City but she also felt a slight prang of guilt in her chest. The last thing Asami wanted to was to pull Korra and her parents apart.

Lifting the corners of her mouth into a crooked but positive smile, Korra ran her fingers through Asami’s hair while admiring the softness. “My parents are fine with it as long as we come back for the Winter Solstice, plus I am not strong enough to compete again so I will be happy with casual boarding when snow falls in the City.”

Bringing her hand down to trace her fingers across her girlfriends jaw, Korra couldn’t help but think that Asami bathes in milk to have hair and skin so perfect. Her blue, hopeful eyes wandered up to meet Asami’s green eyes before sucking on her bottom lip in slight worry. “Does that – is that alright? With you I mean… because like I was thinking I could find my own apartment, get a job and things you know.”

“Or maybe you could come live with me.” Asami said out unexpectedly, almost surprising them both. She was starting to mentally curse herself for her mouth acting without discussing with her brain, but Korra smiled.

“Really?”

Asami took her girlfriends hand and played with her fingers, lightly tracing the scars. She could feel Korra stiffen slightly so she placed a small kiss on each scar to say they were beautiful before sitting back again. “Well the mansion feels empty when you aren’t there…so I would love nothing more than for you to come and live with me. Maybe I could even sell the mansion and we move into our own apartment, what do you say?”

“I think I’d like that.”

“You think?” The couple pressed their foreheads together, their lips pulling into wide grins.

“I mean, I would really like that.”

Korra cocked her head to the side before pressing her lips against Asami’s.

* * *

 

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Korra placed a light kiss on her girlfriend cheek causing her to wake up slowly. “Good morning sleepy head.” Korra quietly said as she smiled at Asami, who looked more than radiant with no clothes and covered by a simple, thin blanket.

Even though the couple had yet to have sex they were partial to little naked tussle and masturbation session before falling asleep in each other’s arms. Asami’s cheeks were still flushed from her orgasm a few hours previous, or perhaps it was due to Korra wearing nothing but a pair of socks.

“Morning.” Asami croaked out as she pulled herself up right, her body wincing slightly when her bare back touched the cold headboard.

“How are you?”

“Good, you?”

Korra placed a light kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. “Wonderful… come on, I made pancakes.”

With a laugh, Asami pulled herself out of bed. “Pancakes? Oh aren’t I the lucky girl.” Asami stopped her laugh for a brief moment when she saw Korra walking back towards the door without her clothes. “Hang on…did you go out like that?”

Korra looked down at her socks before nodding. “Yeah, it’s not that cold and my parents have gone to work.”

Picking up her bathrobe that was draped across Korra’s desk chair, Asami threw it on and shook her head. “You are unbelievable.”

Once in the kitchen Asami sat at the small breakfast table, watching Korra set up the table while she pulled her hair back. Placing down the largest stack of pancakes Asami had ever seen Korra sat opposite her girlfriend, her foot playfully running up her leg.

“Wow that is a lot of pancakes.” Asami chuckled while picking up a few and placing them on her plate.

Leaning over, Korra handed Asami peanut butter, chocolate chips and grated coconut. “I even got you your favourite toppings. Aren’t I a great girlfriend?”

Asami couldn’t help but raise her eyebrow and feel slightly suspicious. “Korra?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you up to something?”

Quickly Korra tried to push a full syrup covered pancake in her mouth while shrugging and blushing. Asami noticed the slight twitches in Korra’s eyes causing her to follow the movement to the back door, where two backpacks and two sets of cross country skis rested. Pointing her fork at the items, Asami raised her eyebrow once again. “Does it have anything to do with those?”

“Maybe.” Korra mumbled while attempting to swallow her pancake.

“Where are we going?”

Bashing her chest, Korra shrugged again. “I want to show you something special, as a bit of a celebration for the Solstice and for us moving in together.” Extending her hand, Korra took Asami’s and smiled sweetly. “You don’t mind do you?”

“No of course not, to be honest I am quite excited to see what you are planning. If that goofy grin is anything to go by it will be pretty amazing.”

“Oh it will be.”

* * *

 

Ice…they skied for three hours just to reach a large bowl in the tundra that was covered in large ice hills, spikes and just…ice. Asami liked ice and all but not this much. Trying to stop her eyebrow rising in slight annoyance and confusion, Asami looked over at her grinning girlfriend who was rummaging through her backpack. “Where are we?”

“It’s called the Frozen Forest. Legend has it that once there was a portal to the Spirit Wilds inside this formally green forest. However the spirits became angry for our ancestors neglect of the spiritual traditions causing the Everstorm which froze everything in sight.” Korra grunted while pulling out a roll of thin plastic and handing it to Asami.

The taller woman unrolled the item, and looked at the half a metre rectangular mat that had a loop of rope attached to one end. Looking back over to her girlfriend, she watched as Korra brought out another mat, placing it on the floor, removing her skis and attaching them to the back of her bag.

Looking back to Asami, Korra smiled. “You might wanna take off your skis and tie them to your bag like I am.”

Asami didn’t say anything at first, just slowly did as she was instructed. “Korra…really, what are we doing?”

“I want to show you something.” With an encouraging smile Korra placed her mat on the floor, her bag on the back and lay down on the mat. At first Asami was slightly confused until she saw a small, dark ice hole – no bigger than Korra herself – by Korra’s head.

“Are we sledding…down there?”

Korra smirked. “Yup, not scared are you?”

“When have you seen me scared around ice? Never, and I am not intending to start now.” Lying on her own ‘sled’ behind Korra, Asami scoffed.

“Good, now follow me.”

With a quick push of her feet, Korra slid down into the dark cave and Asami soon followed. However it wasn’t like what she was used to, it was a tunnel, a very tight, very dark ice tunnel. Asami was never one to be scared of sledding, but doing it in a tight space without knowledge of the layout was less than ideal. She was just glad Korra was in front so she could see where each tight bend was.

Asami almost let out a scream of worry when she saw Korra disappear down without warning, only to realise she was about to follow. Her stomach dropped and her teeth dug into her bottom lip as she slid down. The feeling she felt was that like when going on a large, almost vertical water slide, that sensation where you are convinced you are going to leave the surface below you. However this time she was going head first, she was on ice and above her was another wall. If she wasn’t so determined not to show Korra this wasn’t bothering her, Asami was pretty sure she would have lost control of her bladder.

Letting out a grunt, Asami landed and slid along an almost flat part before the ice above almost vanished. Her eyes were assaulted by bright green tinted light. Her mouth fell open.

The couple had arrived at a large ice cave which felt warmer than the world above. The walls were deep blues and greens while the centre of the cave was filled with luscious green trees and grass. Standing up from her mat, Asami ran her fingers through her hair while her mouth stayed open in shock.

Pulling off her jacket, Asami slowly stumbled towards a small stream that flowed along the centre of the cave before disappearing into another deep black tunnel. Running her fingers through the ice cold water, Asami gasped. “This is incredible…and the air is so warm.”

Stepping closer to her girlfriend, Korra smiled at her happily. “That’s the beauty of going down here; it has its own climate.” Korra brought her hand up before picking up a usual purple looking fruit from a nearby tree, “see, it even has its own type of fruit that isn’t seen above the ice. Not sure how it grows down here but it does.”

Removing her boots and socks, Asami groaned internally at the feeling of the soft grass underfoot. Korra quickly followed suit before Asami smiled at her sweetly. “Thank you Korra, for bringing me here. It is breath-taking.”

With a slightly sly smile, Korra wrapped her strong – now bare arms – around the waist of Asami. “And the best thing…we are all alone. Now I believe you were going to tell me how you feel about me once I got back on the snow, it been nearly two years and I have been waiting impatiently.”

Placing a light kiss on the end of Korra’s nose, Asami couldn’t help but chuckle playfully. “No, I said when you start boarding and today we have been skiing and sledging, not boarding so you are going to have to wait a little longer.”

Leaning her head back slightly, Korra pouted. “Seriously? I am going to lose out on a technicality?”

Draping her arms over Korra’s shoulders the taller woman giggled and pressed a loving kiss on her cheek. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I just love to tease you.” Moving her lips to breath lightly against Korra’s ear, Asami whispered in a low, seductive voice. “In more ways than one.”

And that was it; Korra was basically a puddle in Asami’s arms, so much so that the couple had to lie back in the soft, green grass before they were actually able to start kissing. Korra ran her fingers up the back of her girlfriend while she deepened the kiss, her teeth playfully playing with Asami’s lower lip until her mouth opened.

The kiss was heated – like it often ended up – and messy, but it felt different. Almost like the time the couple almost had sex on Asami’s sofa. Korra’s mind started to race and her body throbbing with arousal and excitement. “Asami.” Korra mumbled with their lips together before pulling away and repeating herself.

“Yes?” Asami tried to hold back her goofy smile but failed miserably.

Korra sighed briefly while her fingers played with the buttons on Asami’s shirt before speaking again. “I want us – I mean if you wanted…I would like to have sex with you.”

For some reason Korra had expected Asami to attack her with kisses again but was surprised when Asami simply ran a finger across her temple and smiled gently. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I do, but not hundred percent sure if I am capable…I would like to try, but please don’t think badly of me if I freak out again.” Korra was hesitant, and she knew Asami would be willing to wait but she needed to do this for herself. If they were able to touch themselves in front of each other then surely they would be able to have sex. Or at least that is what Korra was hoping.

“I could never think badly of you because of that. If you feel uncomfortable just tell me.”

Korra nodded in agreement before Asami stared to place light kisses along her jaw and down to her neck. She was being slow, attentive, giving Korra every opportunity to back down but Korra felt safe. She trusted Asami more than anything.

Asami lovingly placed kisses from the fingertips of Korra’s once injured hand, all the way up to her neck before hooking her fingers on the hem of Korra’s shirt. Lowering herself between Korra’s legs, Asami left a trail of light red kisses up her toned stomach while removing her top. When Asami arrived at her bare breasts, Korra couldn’t hold back the moan when a warm wetness enveloped her hardened nipple. For a moment Korra had expected her body to stiffen and her mind to run but instead she moaned and bucked slightly when teeth playfully nibbled on her breasts.

“Are you okay?” Asami asked, and it was only then when Korra realised she had her hands ready to remove her ski pants.

Korra bit her lip and nodded before adding, “Yes…but you are wearing far too many clothes.”

Moving her hands away from the buckle on the brunette’s pants – not wanting Korra to feel awkward by being the only nude one – Asami stood up and with a slight sway of her hips, removed her plaid shirt and black ski pants.

Korra bit her lip at the sight of Asami in nothing more than a maroon lace thong and a blush. Her now darkened blue eyes wandered over her girlfriend’s lean body before settling on the darker spot between her legs. She was aroused…and so was Korra. Hooking her thumbs on the inside of thong, Asami pulled it down her legs – a small amount of wetness clinging to the fabric caused Korra to groan – before making her way back to the blushing Korra.

“Now…where was I?”

“I believe you were about to undress me.”

Asami smirked. “So I was.” Her fingers undid the claps on Korra’s ski pants before pulling them off, slowly followed by her now damp pair of girl boxers. “May I?” Asami questioned while her eyes wandered over the thick patch of deep brown hair between Korra’s legs.

Without thought, Korra opened her legs further, giving Asami a full view of her wet centre. “Of course.”

Settling between Korra’s legs, Asami was immediately hit with the intoxicating smell of Korra’s arousal. Sliding her hands under the firm backside of her girlfriend – giving it a playful squeeze in the process – Asami moved closer to Korra’s centre, lightly breathing against the warm flesh.

Korra bucked her hips wildly even before Asami touched her. And then there it was, Asami’s warm, flat tongue running up the length of her before playfully circling around her stiffened clit. The boarder was no stranger to touching herself, and she was well aware how good it felt to have her clit touched, but this, having a mouth sucking gently on the nub was more pleasurable that she could have ever imagined.

Wanting to encourage Asami more, Korra went to grip her hair but stopped herself in fear of tugging too hard. Looking up, Asami smirked while running her against Korra’s entrance. Taking hold of her girlfriend’s hands, Asami placed them on her hair. “Don’t let me stop you.” She purred out before taking her position back between Korra’s thighs.

When Asamis’ tongue flicked against her clit once again Korra gripped – still not as hard as she could – onto the thick mass of black hair before letting out a high-pitched whimper. “Oh Asami.”

Removing one hand from massaging Korra’s backside, she took two of her slender fingers and slowly slid them into the warm depths of Korra’s centre. Immediately the brunette flipped her head back and let out more of a grunt than a moan. Her fingers were so long that with a simple come-hither motion she was able to reach the itch that Korra had never been able to scratch.

It was at the moment Korra knew she wouldn’t be long, but she wanted to Kiss Asami as she came. “Asami…” Korra let out another moan. “I want to kiss you…please.”

Smiling into Korra’s centre for a moment, Asami moved her way upwards – placing wet kisses as she went – before reaching Korra’s lips. When their lips touched Korra immediately groaned, partly because Asami increased her thrusts while her palm rubbed her clit and partly because she could taste herself.

As their tongues almost played together – the eagerness now settling down – Korra started to roll her hips, increasing the pleasure inside her. While the pressure inside her stomach started to build Korra did not stop her kisses, instead moving her lips down the slender neck of her girlfriend before her hips bucked and a strong orgasm ripped through her.

“Fuck Asami!” She whimpered out, as Asami continued to finger her through the orgasm.

When the orgasm finally subsided and the walls around Asami’s fingers stopped twitching, Asami pulled out, playfully licking her fingers clean before placing a light kiss on Korra’s forehead. “Wow…fucking wow…”

Lying down next to Korra, Asami started to play with a small flick of hair that was sticking out from her girlfriend’s head. “Enjoy that?”

Korra took in a deep breath, nodded and exhaled. “That was amazing.”

Asami watched as Korra’s eyes turned from a light blue to dark and her crooked smile turned sly. Pushing up on her arms, Korra moved swiftly so she was settled between her girlfriend’s legs. She could see that Korra was up to something but she wasn’t going to ask what. Instead she watched as Korra did a push-up, kissing her breast and as she pushed herself up she rolled her body forward, her abs rubbing against Asami’s centre.

“Whoa.” Asami muttered out while biting her lip, she had felt something like that before, but fuck, it was good.

Korra continued to do that for a few more minutes until she could see Asami pooling with want and her cheeks flushed in the most beautiful of ways. Once she stopped Asami groaned at the lack of contact, but her heart quickly started to race as she watched Korra settle herself fully between her legs.

Instead of going straight to pleasuring her, Korra opted to place a series of kisses and light bites up Asami’s milky thighs until her mouth was finally hovering close to her centre. Korra had to mentally will herself not to keep staring, Asami was beautiful, but she was there for a reason…to make her come. Using her thumbs to pull back her outer lips, Korra moved in closer, breathing lightly before using a flat tongue to do one excruciatingly long lick upwards.

And that was it, Asami was already moaning while rubbing her fingertips into the scalp of Korra. She was more than ready for this.

Varying her tongue from flat to pointed, Korra started to draw a serious of random patterns up along Asami. At first she had planned to use this just as a way to tease her, but with the way Asami’s hips were rolling and her voice singing out Korra’s name it was more than just that.

“Korra, fuck, don’t stop.” That breathy sentence was all Korra needed to increase her efforts on making Asami come. Bringing up her mouth, Korra circled her tongue around Asami’s clit, making her come close to orgasm before going back to drawing patterns lower down.

Korra did this for several minutes, always bringing her girlfriend close but never quite letting her tip over the edge. “Korra please…fuck….I really wanna come.”

Asami could feel the smile that was pressed against her before Korra brought her tongue back to her clit once more. As her tongue circled again Asami could immediately feel the difference, it was no longer teasing, it was fast, hard…Korra was on a mission to make Asami come.

A shiver forced its way down Asami’s leg, making her well aware how close she was to coming, but still she felt like making it vocal. “Fuck, Korra, I’m so close…so fucking…ahhhhhh!”

For a moment Asami was convinced she had passed out for a moment because when she opened her eyes post-orgasm, Korra was already pressed up against her, kissing her forehead sweetly.

Bringing up her hands, Asami cupped Korra’s cheeks, her thumbs lightly brushing under her eyes. Asami had never felt so loved and so in love as she did with Korra. It felt right, everything about this relationship felt right. “I love you Korra.”

She had not planned on saying it, nor did Korra expect to hear it. They both they loved each other but those words never past their lips – at least never when the other had been listening. Biting her up in a clear – but failed – attempt to hold back tears, Korra nodded. “I love you too.”

The couple kiss once more, it was soft, gentle but filled with more love than either had felt before.

* * *

 

“I have one question.”

“Mm?” Korra didn’t move from her spot on Asami’s chest, she was more than content on listening to her heartbeat while fingers played with her hair.

“How do we get out of here?”

“We climb out.”

Asami quickly sat up, nearly causing Korra to fall in a heap. “Seriously? We have skied forever, slid down a really precarious tunnel, had mind-blowing sex – ”

Only picking up on one part of the conversation, Korra smirked and nodded. “It was pretty mind-blowing.”

Asami ignored her. “Then you expect us to climb out?”

“And ski back.” She added.

Letting out an exhausted huff, Asami fell back, tucking her arms under her head. “Why couldn’t we have had sex in a bed like a normal couple?”

“Asami we are far from normal, but if you want we can stay here for a little longer.” Korra lazily ran her fingers across Asami’s ribs, tickling her slightly.

With a sly smile, Asami moved quickly, pinning Korra’s arms above her head and letting her body to rub up against her stomach. “Good, because there is a lot more I wanted us to do.”

Korra’s eyes darkened once again.


	7. Chapter 7

Lifting a box from Asami’s bedroom, Korra carried it through the corridors of Sato Mansion before placing it in the back of Asami’s car. As she pushed it back towards the other boxes Korra noticed a piece of Maroon fabric peaking from the lid. With a quick movement Korra pulled it out and there it was, Asami’s maroon scarf, the same scarf she was wearing the first time they laid eyes on each other. The same scarf she wore when Korra nearly landed on her while boarding…she had fond memories of this scarf. It is probably bad to admit but she once or twice might have had dreams of Asami tying her wrists with it as well while they had sex.

Noticing that Korra was stood holding the scarf with a blank expression on her face; Asami put down her box and placed a hand on the small of Korra’s back. “You okay?”

Korra nodded and gave a Asami a gentle smile. “Yeah, fine…I was just remembering the first time I saw you wearing this.”

“Happy thoughts I hope.”

“Always.” Korra giggled out before placing a light kiss on Asami’s cheek.

Leaning against the back of her car, Asami watched Korra fondly as she tucked the scarf back into its box. “So I’ve been thinking?”

“Doesn’t surprise me, you always are. What about?”

Asami smirked, “About you.”

Sitting herself next to Asami, Korra crossed her arms and grinned. “Ooh, even better.”

“You said when you moved to the City you wanted to get a job right?” Korra nodded and hummed in agreement. “Well I think I have the perfect one for you.”

“What’s that?”

“Well as you know Varrick and I have been working together on a little secret project.” She smiled at Korra when her eyebrow rose slightly. “And since that project is now coming to a close.”

“A project that I still don’t know the details of…”

Asami chose to ignore that comment because Korra knew she wasn’t allowed to disclose any information until the unveiling – it was nothing special, only a new line of safer cars but if Cabbage Corp got wind of it, it would mean trouble for Future Industries. “I was thinking about doing a new project called project Blizzarrd…with your help.”

“My help? How could I possibly help with sciencey stuff?”

Putting her arm around Korra’s shoulder, Asami put the other arm out in the air before quickly retracting it. She had been hanging around Varrick far too long, but as long as the words ‘do the thing’ don’t leave her mouth she would be fine. “You see my aim is to expand Future Industries further, perhaps into sports equipment…mainly skis, snowboards and all the components to come with it. However I am in need of a guinea pig to test them out…namely you.”

“You calling me a guinea pig?” Korra pouted slightly.

“Yes I am, but in the most affectionate of ways.” Asami pouted back in a way to say ‘I love you’ which Korra accepted with a nod. “So what do you say? Work for Future Industries…work  _with_  me, you will get a fairly decent wage even if there is nothing to test. I also believe you can help with the designs. If that’s what you want to do.”

Moving herself, so Korra had a leg either side of Asami and their bodies pressed together, the brunette smirked. “I’ll do it, as long as we get to have sex at least once in your workshop.”

“Deal… now come on, we have a lot more boxes to load.”

* * *

 

Three hours later the couple had taken a fourth trip in Asami’s car to bring over the last of the boxes. Shifting in her seat, Korra looked over at her girlfriend. “Asami, why didn’t you hire a van or get movers to take the boxes? It would have saved us the hundreds of trips.”

With a slight smile, Asami ran her finger across the steering wheel. She always loved how Korra would exaggerate with little things like that…or on how much weight she could lift. “Saving money, those cost more than I have spent on fuel.”

Korra couldn’t hold back her laugh. “Are you serious? Asami you are the head of Future Industries, you sold your mansion over just under a million, you even sold all of your furniture. Money is something you don’t need to worry about.”

“Just because I have it doesn’t mean I want to spend it without thinking. Although now thinking about it, maybe a better investment would have been teaching you to drive and give you a car.”

Crossing her arms and putting her feet on the dashboard – which were swiftly pushed down by Asami – Korra smirked. “I could see me driving a sports car, with the top down and looking hot in a pair of aviators.”

“I was more thinking a pick-up so we wouldn’t have had to tie the mattress onto the roof of the car.” Glancing out of the window, Asami watched as the mattress which had been badly tied on the roof by Korra, wobbled and moved with each bump in the road. “I am also starting to think it was a mistake to sell the bedframe.”

* * *

 

After spending one night on a mattress on the floor of their new loft apartment, Korra and Asami went shopping to IKEA. Leaning against the carts handle, Asami rolled her eyes as she watched Korra get over excited about decorative pillows. “Korra…” She wasn’t listening. “Korra…” The brunette moved over to some scented candles, furrowing her brow when she smelt a strong one.

Rolling her eyes again, Asami picked up a pillow Korra had thrown in previously before launching it at Korra, hitting her head with a deep thud. Rubbing her head out of habit, Korra looked at her girlfriend in suspicion. “What was that for?”

“We – no, I mean you have spent the last twenty minutes looking at pillows and sniffing candles, please can we move on?”

Pouting, Korra put the candle back down before putting the thrown pillow back in the overfilled cart. “Fine, but if the loft looks boring it’s not my fault.”

“I never thought you were the type to like fluffy, feminine shit like that.”

Taking control of the cart, Korra smiled sweetly at Asami. “We are allowed our own little secrets.” Glancing over to a small selection of bedside lights, Korra changed language to make sure others around them didn’t understand. “ _Do you need a new night-light?”_

At first Asami wasn’t sure what Korra had said, she had been learning her girlfriends first language but it was harder than she expected. It wasn’t until she saw Korra moving closer to a small selection of lights did the engineer realise what she had said. “ _Korra, no!”_

Korra looked back at Asami who looked a little uncomfortable, with her hand firmly wrapped around the shorter woman’s wrist.  _“No? But I thought the dark scared you.”_

 _“Not if you are beside me…and if you – uh – ”_ Asami furrowed her brow and quickly turned back to her own language.“Buy a few more candles just in case of a black out.”

With a gentle smile, Korra nodded in agreement.

* * *

 

Six hours, the couple spent six hours having fun in IKEA. Well it fun until they realised they had to carry over twenty eight boxes and fifteen bags up four flights of stairs. Running her fingers through her short hair, Korra exhaled dramatically. “I think we got overzealous with the whole IKEA thing.”

Picking up a fairly light box, Asami raised her eyebrow at Korra before shaking her head. Korra knew if the loft keys weren’t in her mouth, Asami would have mentioned that it was no ‘we’ most of those purchases were because of Korra and her unexpected love of shopping…or at least her love for trying to make the bedroom look as sexy as possible.

Once Asami slid past and made her way up the stairs, Korra looked down at the boxes and bags in the trunk of Asami’s car. Pulling out a fairly heavy box, Korra exhaled and mentally prepared herself for the long day ahead. She knew after the last two days she was going to quickly living in a apartment block with only stairs.

* * *

 

Flopping down on the sofa – which had been lovingly left by the previous owners – Korra groaned in exhaustion. Yes she had more strength and stamina than Asami, but going up and down those stairs so many times in two days was not doing her leg any favours. “There is no way in the Spirit Wilds am I putting together IKEA furniture now!”

Sitting on the sofa’s arm, Asami gave Korra a mug of tea. “What do you suggest we do?”

“Leave everything in boxes and live with a mattress and a sofa until we have our own children to build the furniture?”

Sliding down the arm – forcing Korra to lift up her legs – Asami sat down and rolled her eyes. “Or…we could invite Opal, Mako and Bolin over, buy some beer and food and have an IKEA party.”

Korra raised her eyebrow. “People do that?”

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Asami nodded. “They do now.”

After spending two hours trying to get Korra off the sofa, the couple took a quick trip to the shop for various beers, pizza and other snacks in readiness for their friends to come over. The ‘party’ itself was actually a lot of fun; Bolin even decided to do a bit of a girl vs boys competition which was fuelled by alcohol and good music. Both teams had a flat pack chest of drawers, and the last team to build the drawers cleaned the apartment – including having to take all boxes and bottles down the four flights of stairs to the recycle bins – which no one wanted to do.

Staring at the box in front of him with glazed eyes and then up to Asami – who was dancing around and singing while grinding up against Korra – Bolin pouted. “Asami’s needs to sit out, her gayness and engineering cleverness make for an unfair advantage.”

“Slut like yo – what?” Asami stopped her singing and furrowed her brow at her friend. “I’m – I’m not gay.”

Bolin wasn’t listening, he was too busy saying it should be Mako and Bolin verses Opal and Korra. Wrapping her hand around the waist of her girlfriend, Korra smiled slightly. “Don’t worry about Bolin he’s drunk…are you alright with sitting out for this? Three against two is unfair.”

“Of course I am.” Asami gripped Korra’s hands lightly while grinding against Korra again. “I know how sober Opal is and how good you are with your hands. Win this for the team.”

“Oh I will.” Korra almost purred out as she pressed her lips against Asami’s slender neck.

Sitting cross legged on the floor, Asami stared at her friends who had hammers and screwdrivers in hand. “On your marks, get set….GO!”

Within five seconds the brothers were arguing on how to open the box, meanwhile Opal and Korra were working well together, organizing the components, looking at the instructions and working out who was going to do what. Korra was thankful that Opal was sober enough to organise while she was the clumsy muscle.

Asami couldn’t hold back the blush in her cheeks and stop her teeth gnawing at her lower lip as she watched Korra work. With each stretch and movement she groaned internally at the rippling of Korra’s muscular arms. Even the look of drunken concentration on her face aided Asami’s growing arousal.

“ _Finished you fuckers!_ ” Korra shouted out, throwing her arms in the air until she was met with a crowd of confused looks. “Oh sorry…we uh finished.” She always had a habit of changing languages when drunk, which was another thing Asami loved about her.

Unfortunately neither Bolin nor Mako were sober enough to finish their chest of drawers let alone clear up the loft, so instead Opal opted to take them home and promised to make them come back in the morning to make good on their promise.

Once they finished seeing their guests out, Asami looked over at Korra with a smile on her face. “Hey, do you want to sit on the roof for a bit? It’s a nice night.”

“Sure.” Korra smiled back. “I’ll get some drinks.”

“Alright.”

With beers in hand Asami and Korra climbed a wall ladder – situated in their bedroom – to a private roof terrace. Leaning against the cool brick wall, the couple watched Republic City from above. All the lights, all the noise, it was so different from the life that both Asami and Korra were used to but it felt right. Taking Korra’s hand, Asami smiled. Perhaps it was because she had the love of her life with her or that she was slightly intoxicated, but she had never felt so thrilled to be alive.

Asami smiled at Korra, watching as she looked at the world beyond the apartment block. “What?” Korra asked, slowly turning to look at her girlfriend with a happy smile and bright blue eyes.

“Nothing, I am just happy to be with you.”

The couple stood in silence once again for a few minutes before Korra pushed her hand into her back pocket and pulled out her harmonica which she had grabbed on her way up. Bringing the instrument to her lips, Korra played a gentle jazz tune which filled Asami’s heart with a smooth happiness. It was far different from what Asami was used to hearing her play, it was gentle, almost quiet but each note was played to perfection. If she closed her eyes Asami could almost picture the music in her mind, yet she couldn’t take her eyes of her beautiful Korra.

Eventually when the tune died down and the now loud sound of the City assaulted their ears once more, Korra tucked away her harmonica and moved towards Asami. “That was beautiful.” The taller woman mumbled slightly while a blush filled her pale cheeks.

Taking the half-full bottle from Asami’s hand, Korra put it down on the floor before placing a light kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. “You’re beautiful.”

Asami blush deepened as Korra came closer, their bodies flush. Korra was so close she could almost count the freckles on her nose, freckles she wanted to kiss. Having a kiss press on the tip of her partially upturned nose, Korra couldn’t help but giggle which very quickly turned into a deep hum. She appreciated her girlfriend being so sweet and playful but Korra needed something else.

Moving her head to get better access to Asami’s neck, Korra started to kiss up its length until she reached Asami’s ear. Brushing her lips against the lobe, Korra purred causing Asami’s heart to quicken and her centre to become moist. “Now, how about we see how well we built the bed?”

Asami smiled for a moment before shifting her weight so she was the one pressing her other half up against the brick wall. “Why would we move? You look so happy here…plus we have plenty of time to try the bed out.”

With a blush, Korra watched as Asami dropped to her knees – pulling Korra’s jeans and boxers with her – before putting one leg on her shoulder. “Asami are you really gonna – ”

The tongue against her clit gave Korra the answer to her question; yes Asami was going to eat her out in the open and oddly this excited the boarder.

* * *

 

Eventually the couple did make it to the bed, although it was made very difficult by Asami’s attempt to finger Korra on the ladders. But when they did make it on the newly built bed, Korra wasted no time in pulling out a quite large strap-on they bought a few days earlier and – with a bit of fumbling – was ready to fill Asami with its thick length.

Rubbing the tip up against Asami’s slit, Korra lightly nibbled on her earlobe. “You ready darling?”

Asami nodded and opened her legs wider, waiting to be filled. “Yes Korra…fuck me.”

Not waiting, Korra slowly pushed into Asami before thrusting with increasing speed and strength.

“Faster! Harder! Please!”

“Are – are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”

Asami groaned out and nodded. “Yes Korra, fuck me hard!”

It must have been around Asami’s third crying for Korra to go faster that the brunette noticed a small packet of screws on the bedside table.

Not stopping her thrusts, Korra panted out, “uh, Asami I have found a packet of screws,” between her lovers animalistic moans of pleasure.

Gripping Korra’s firm ass – ensuring she wouldn’t stop – Asami groaned out. “Screw that, fucking screw me.”

With a nod, Korra continued with their…well they could no longer call it making love, it was straight out fucking. And they managed to continue for another two minutes before a worrying groan of wood was heard. Before either woman had a chance to react the bed collapsed underneath them, causing both women to squeal as they dropped a few inches.

When the bed had settled, Korra pulled herself up from Asami – but not pulling out – and checked that she was alright. “Are you alright?” Asami nodded. “Note to self, IKEA furniture and alcohol don’t mix.”

“Shut up Korra and keep going! I want you to make me come…hard.”

Korra’s mouth dropped open at the determination in Asami’s face; it was both terrifying and extremely arousing. She hadn’t let her girlfriend down before and was not going to start now. Getting back into her previous rhythm, Korra fucked Asami as hard and as fast as instructed, while her body rubbed up against her clit and her lips assaulted her neck.

Asami – now close – wrapped her legs around Korra’s body, pulling her deeper which in turn caused her to hit that spot that sent a spark down her spine. “Ah – Korra…” She whimpered out before pressing her lips against Korra’s.

The orgasm was intense, wild, forcing Asami’s hips to buck wildly – in turn pleasuring her further – which made Korra smile with achievement. Finally pulling out, Korra rolled over onto her back while trying to keep her heart from coming out of her chest. “That was intense.”

Asami giggled and hummed in agreement while she removed the strap-on from Korra’s waist. “It was…but we haven’t finished yet.”

Knowing Korra was not a fan of being penetrated with the large toy, Asami found a slimmer dildo before settling herself between Korra’s legs. Breathing lightly against Korra’s centre, her hips bucked and she let out a slight whimper.

Wrapping her lips around Korra’s swollen clit, Asami teased it with sucks and licks while she ran the tip of the toy up against her wet slit. Slowly as Korra relaxed Asami pushed the dildo inside her, almost to the end. “Oh…” Korra whimpered out, her fingers running through Asami’s hair.

After a few pauses, Asami started to thrust inside Korra, each movement forcing another louder moan from her girlfriend. “A – Asami…”

Feeling suddenly worried Korra was feeling uncomfortable Asami stopped and pulled her mouth away from her clit. “What? Is something wrong?”

Korra shook her head while her teeth gnawed on her bottom lip. “No I just – I want you to go harder.”

With a nod, Asami started to thrust harder causing Korra to almost scream with pleasure each time the end hit her inside. “Fuck Asami…” Korra’s cheeks started to burn red and her body was swimming with pleasure. For so long she wanted to do more than just gentle sex but had been too scared, worried she would have a panic attack, but she was fine. She was more than fine, as her hips bucked and her body trembled, Korra was hit with the longest orgasm she had ever experienced. “ _Fuck!_ ”

Panting heavily, Korra half-heartedly slapped Asami’s arm. “Well, if this is what it’s like to live together I think I am going to love it.”

“Me too…although I don’t think we should have sex like that every night.”

“Why not?”

Asami shifted slightly, groaning in the process. “I am a little bit sore; I think I got a little over ambitious.”

“I did ask if the speed was too much and you said to go faster.”

“Yes I know, and I appreciate you asking Korra, the fault is on me.”

“Would you like me to lick you better?” Korra wiggled her eyebrows at Asami while sticking her tongue out slightly.

With a gasp and a light slap, Asami shook her head and snuggled closer into Korra. “No no no, I just – I just want to sleep in your arms.”

“Of course.” Korra wrapped her arms around her girlfriend while trying to ignore the tension in her abs – she was really going to feel that work-out in the morning – before closing her eyes. “Goodnight Asami.”

“Goodnight Korra.”

Just as Asami was at the point of dozing off Korra spoke out, far too loud for Asami to pretend she didn’t hear her. “We should get a dog.”

“What?” Asami groaned, rubbing her face with her hands.

“Yeah, a puppy, it would be fun.”

At first Asami was tempted to ask where this thought came from, then she remembered that it was Korra and if there was one thing she was good at, it was thinking of random stuff at really random moments. “I dunno, they are a lot of responsibility.”

“So am I but you manage just fine.” Laying her head on Asami’s chest, Korra ran her fingers lightly up her girlfriend’s stomach causing her to giggle. “Imagine the sound of little puppy paws pattering across the floor, cute little barks, big slobbery kisses...”

“Shit on the floor.” Asami interjected with a flat tone.

“Good thing we don’t have carpets.” Rolling so she is now on top of Asami, Korra gave her girlfriend wide, sad eyes. Of course Korra would be able to do puppy eyes; Asami wasn’t sure why she was so surprised. “What do you say?”

“You know what, alright…let’s do it, let’s buy a puppy and call it Rico.”

“Naga.”

Shrugging, Asami wrapped her arms around Korra pulling her closer. “That works too.”

“I am so going to marry you.” Korra mumbled as she closed her eyes and inhaled the warm smell of her lover.

“Win a medal at the next games and I might just say yes.” Asami said jokingly.

Korra was quiet for a moment, just smiling at herself before speaking up once again. “Asami, I really love you and I am so happy to have you in my life.”

Placing a kiss on her forehead, Asami smiled. “I feel the same way, I am so happy I lost my ski… Goodnight my love.”

“Night night.”


	8. Chapter 8

With a pained grunt, Korra dropped the bags of groceries on the kitchen counter before slumping her body against it; her eyes watching drips of water leave the tips of her hair and collide with the surface. She couldn’t believe it; she left to get food for dinner and within ten minutes a horrendous storm had formed.

Pushing herself back up, the brunette glanced at all the bags trying to recall what she had bought. “Nothing that needs to be put in the fridge,” she mumbled to herself before moving away from the kitchen and leaving a trail of soggy clothes towards the bedroom.

Ever since her accident Korra had always struggled with stormy weather, cold and snow she can deal with, but wind and rain were another matter altogether. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, Korra noted that Asami would be at least another two hours before she came home which gave her enough time to have a relaxing but lonely bath.

Moving into the adjoining bathroom, Korra sat on the edge of the bath while the water ran. Running her hands across the scars on her lightly fluffy thigh, Korra sighed. She hated how late Asami had been working lately. She would work from eight in the morning until at least eight most evenings, causing Korra to feel lonely. It’s not like Korra wanted Asami to be with her 24/7, she just wished she would come home at a reasonable hour.

“I suppose when I start working at Future Industries I will see her more.” Korra mumbled to herself again as she climbed into the bath, her body tensing when the hot water touched her sensitive scars.

Korra almost nodded off when she heard the door of the loft open and slam, followed by the patter of wet shoes against the floor. “Korra?” Asami called out from the main room.

“In the bath.” Korra replied, her fingers tapping against the water to create a series of ripples.

It didn’t take long for Asami to be stood in the bathroom, her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. “Why is there wet clothes lying about on the floor?”

Pressing her head back against the cold cast iron, the brunette sighed slightly. “I got caught in the storm and wanted a bath. But I’ll pick them up after I’ve finished my bath.”

Rolling back on her heels, Asami nodded and lightly grunted. “You better, the place looks a mess.”

“Excuse me?” Korra picked up her head again and gave her girlfriend a slightly annoyed look.

“You made the loft look a mess, so you better pick it up.”

“Says you!”

Asami’s eyebrows immediately shot up and her arms became tighter around her chest. “I don’t see anything of mine lying about on the floor.”

“I had been asking you for the last three days to put your dirty clothes in the hamper, but you never did so I had to instead.”

“Well that is what you are supposed to do, it’s not like you are working.”

“Asami I am not your maid, I am your girlfriend, we live together and we should be able to look after our place together!” With a pained grunt, Korra pulled herself out of the bath and sat on the edge with a towel wrapped around her.

Flipping her hair back, Asami almost let out a growl. Before she had the chance to say something that should would most likely regret, Korra interrupted while her fingers rubbed her eyes. “You know what, I am not in the mood for this right now, just go and make dinner please.”

“Me make dinner?”

“Yes Asami, you make dinner.” Korra said out in a calm voice, she wanted to shout but at that moment she was in too much pain to raise her voice. “It is Friday and you always cook on Fridays.”

“But I am fucking exhausted.”

“And I am in fucking pain, so please Asami, just cook. I even bought the ingredient for a stir-fry; it won’t take more than 20 minutes.”

Tucking her hands into her pockets – and gripping onto the internal fabric – Asami took a step back and raised her eyebrow once again. “Well you shouldn’t have been out in the storm then, should you?”

“I wouldn’t have had to go out if you came home at a reasonable hour so we both could have gone shopping in the car.” Korra spat out before forcing herself to look into Asami’s pissed off green eyes. “At times it feels like you love your work more than you love me.”

The moment those words left her mouth Korra felt like kicking herself. She couldn’t take what she said back and Asami didn’t seem interested in listening to apologies. Turning around and leaving through the door, Asami picked up her jacket that was lying on the bed. “I’m going out.” She called through the door.

“Out, where?”

“Mako’s, I am not in the mood to fight with you.”

Before Korra had the chance to reply or even fight her girlfriends decision the sound of the door slamming cut her train of thought. Gripping the towel in her hand, Korra let out a frustrated scream before throwing the towel across the room, knocking her deodorant off a nearby shelf.  _“Fuck.”_

Korra knew living with Asami would never be easy, both women – despite loving each other very much – were very prone to jumping the gun equalling in a large amount of stupid arguments.

Eventually Korra dressed herself and hobbled back into the main part of the loft before stopping at the kitchen. Pressing her hands against the cold surface, Korra closed her eyes and sighed. Once again her emotional pain far outweighed her current physical pain, but all she could focus on was how she had hurt Asami. Korra knew this argument would happen sooner or later, it had been brewing for quite some time, she just never expected those words to leave her mouth. The brunette knew she wasn’t the Queen of tact, she just never expected to be quite that bad.

“ _I could phone her I guess.”_ Korra muttered to herself while taking the phone off the side.

Knowing Asami wouldn’t pick up – or if she did no nice words would be exchanged – Korra tucked her phone into her pocket before sliding down the kitchen cabinets.  _“You’ve fucked up big time. Hell she even went to Mako’s.”_  Korra knew when Asami went to Mako’s house it meant she was seriously pissed off. She would be spending her evening most likely getting drunk and talking shit about Korra while Mako sat there and comforted her in his awkward way.

Korra knew in the back of her head that Asami would never do anything with Mako, she trusted her but she just didn’t fully trust him. Although he was a good friend to them both she still felt a small knot of jealously in the pit of her stomach whenever he was mentioned.

A knot that was starting to become a problem for her panic attacks. Although they had almost vanished – much like the pain in her leg and arm – she still had her moments where they kicked her ass. Today was one of those days.

Looking up, Korra spotted the skateboard she had bought from that kid, just resting up against the wall by the front door which was accompanied by her cane. With a slight pained sigh, Korra moved her glances to the large window to her right and watched as the heavy rain made its way down the glass. Each time a droplet of water made contact with another, she watched as they merged and quickly moved onto a different course. Part of this movement reminded her of both herself and Asami, yet a small part of her brain reminded her of Kuvira.

Pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes, Korra shook her head violently and hissed at herself.  _“Korra this isn’t good. Get a grip of yourself, Asami is probably feeling worse than you.”_

When her heart rate finally levelled off and her breaths became normally, Korra made her way to the freezer where she took out a tub of ice cream and spent the rest of the evening sat on the kitchen floor, drowning her anger with creamy ice medicine.

* * *

 

The next morning Korra woke up with stiffness in her back, dried tears on her cheeks and cramp in her stomach. With a pained grunt she sat up, feeling confused why the bed felt so cold and hard until she realised she never left the kitchen.

Using her formally injured hand to grip onto the worktop, Korra attempted to lift herself up onto her feet before both her leg and her hand gave in. A whine escaped her lips when her body awkwardly collided with the floor. Her first reaction was to call out for Asami but she could bet that her girlfriend never returned. It took Korra over five minutes to get herself carefully back onto her feet and hop until she reached her cane. Asami always didn’t see the sense in her keeping the cane, but at that moment Korra was thankful she still had it.

Reaching the bathroom, the brunette sat back on the toilet while groaning in pain. She knew she shouldn’t have fallen asleep on the floor but it wasn’t her former injuries that were bothering her. Her stomach contracted causing her to groan in quite intense pain. “Fuck, I shouldn’t have had all that ice cream.”

As the contraction settled down her mind started to realise what was actually happening. Glancing down at her boxers, Korra let out a frustrated whine. “Fuck I’m early.” Leaning back against the cistern, Korra looked up at the ceiling while trying to ignore the pain in her body.

“I guess that explains why I was so angry yesterday.” She laughed at herself before realising just how out of line she had been.

“I better get dressed and go apologise to Asami.” Korra went to get up from the toilet before her stomach contracted again. “Maybe after I have some painkillers.”

It took the brunette three hours to get ready to leave the loft and eventually reach Future Industries. With her hand gripping the handle of her cane nervously, Korra made her way to Zhu Li’s desk. Looking up from her desktop, the assistant of both engineers smiled sweetly at Korra. “Ah Korra, what are you doing here?”

“I’m uh, I’m here to see Asami, is she busy?”

Adjusting her glasses, Zhu Li looked at Korra with slight confusion. “Korra, Asami isn’t here.” She watched as Korra shifted nervously on her feet, while her eyes darted from the floor to Asami’s office door. “Is everything alright with you two?”

Inhaling sharply Korra nodded and tried to muster her signature crooked smile. “Of course, we just had a bit of a falling out…nothing I can’t fix.  _I hope._ ”

The next port of call was Asami’s private workshop. The lights were off and all tools were neatly put away which clearly means that Asami had not been there for a while. That’s when it hit her. Trying to hold back from hitting her head with her hand, Korra sighed. “Of course, she is at Mako’s. I should have gone there first.”

Turning back towards the door, Korra felt her cane hit something. Looking down she found a crumpled piece of paper which she found odd, if there was something Asami hated doing was wasting paper. Picking up the ball, she unfolded the paper and felt a tug on her heart. There were several sketches of various snowboards most of which had been scribbled out and with a large ‘not good enough to show Korra’ scrawled across the top. Crumpling it back into a ball, Korra sighed before tucking it in her sweatpants pocket. At that moment most of Korra’s anger had disappeared, instead her heart filled with upset with herself and fondness for Asami.

* * *

 

It took Korra another hour to visit Mako’s house, he didn’t answer but Bolin did and let her in before rambling on about being late for work and running quickly out of the small house. Closing the door behind her, Korra made her way to the living room where Bolin mentioned Asami had been sitting.

Leaning against the doorframe, Korra gently knocked the door while smiling at Asami. “Knock knock.”

At first Asami didn’t look up, instead her body stiffed slightly while her fingers played with the edge of the mug in her hand. “I didn’t expect you to come here.” Asami quietly said while she looked over at her girlfriend. The moment her eyes rested on Korra her heart thumped with regret, Korra was holding onto her cane while her hand was wrapped in a compression bandage, she could see the pain Korra was in. Pain put there by her own selfish actions.

Slowly Korra came further into the room before settling down on the arm of the sofa. “I would have been here earlier but I went to your office first assuming you would be there.”

“Oh.” Asami mumbled before looking down at the wooden floor.

Cocking her head Korra looked over Asami, her hair tied up messily, her body clothed in a grey t-shirt and matching shorts that she assumed belonged to Mako. Her mind started playing and her chest started to become tight. “You uh – you aren’t wearing your clothes…Mako didn’t – ” Korra swallowed while Asami looked up at her. “Mako didn’t do anything, did he?”

Asami felt like both frowning and both smiling. She was glad Korra was actually concerned with her safety which meant she wasn’t too angry; however it also meant she still doesn’t trust Mako. Opting with a raised eyebrow, Asami shook her head. “What? No of course not.”

“Why are you wearing his clothes?”

Putting down her coffee on a nearby table, Asami sat back in her seat and shrugged. “I rode my bike here but didn’t put on my leathers so I got soaked.”

“You knew it was pissing it down yet you still went out?”

“Don’t start.” Asami groaned out.

Looking down, Korra nodded. “You’re right, sorry.”

Looking back up to her girlfriend, Korra extended her hand to brush a single strand of hair from Asami’s face. “I am sorry Asami for what I said last night. I was out of line but I have been missing you so much, and since I haven’t started work I don’t get to see you as – ”

Korra stopped her sentence. Asami looked to see Korra shaking her head while her teeth gnawed on her lower lip. “No…ignore all that, I am just making up excuses. I was a dick and I am sorry.” The edges of Asami’s lips started to curl.

Before Asami had a chance to reply, Korra removed the crumpled piece of paper she found earlier and handed it to Asami. With a confused look, Asami straightened out the paper before smiling weakly and laughing. “You went to my workshop.”

“I did.” Leaning forward, Korra placed a comforting hand on top of Asami’s. “Asami I know you want to impress me with your designs, but we were supposed to work together and how are we meant to do that if you won’t show me everything?”

Nodding, Asami frowned briefly. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry Korra, but I promise I will set it up so you work with me from next week. Does that sound good?”

“That sounds perfect. And Asami I promise I will never get angry at you, or lash out at you when you aren’t at fault.”

Putting her hands up, Asami shook her head. “I would prefer you to get angry at me without a promise behind it.”

“Sure.”

The couple sat in silence for a few minutes before Asami let out a deep sigh. “I didn’t come here first last night…” Korra said nothing, just looked at her girlfriend who was biting on her lower lip. “I went to my parents graves first.”

“Asami…” Korra said quietly while running her hand across Asami’s shoulder.

Asami shook her head as if to tell Korra to remain quiet, she needed to get this off her chest. “After my mom was killed I would go to her grave to, I dunno, to chat and get everything off my chest. As I got older I stopped doing that because I thought it was stupid. Until last night.”

Sitting back, the taller woman exhaled and ran her fingers through her slightly knotted hair. “That’s when I realised I’ve never had people to talk to. I mean sure before he died I had dad, but he was too busy. And Mako and Bolin were, I don’t know.”

“Too Mako and Bolin?” Korra questioned with slight laugher in her voice.

With a nod Asami looked up at her girlfriend with a sincere smile. “Yeah. I’ve never had people to talk to until I met you. You made me smile, laugh, cry and feel safe even before I fell in love with you. And last night after what you said I felt like I was a kid again with no one who I felt safe with.”

Biting her lip, Asami stopped talking. Knowing she was close to crying Korra wrapped her arms around Asami’s slender frame. “I want nothing more than for you to feel safe Asami.”

“I know.” She mumbled out before taking in a deep breath.

Shifting in her seat, Korra gave Asami’s nose a slight kiss. “Do you want to get out of here? I was thinking I could make you some lunch as an apology.” The brunette shrugged slightly before giving her girlfriend a hopeful smile.

At first Asami said nothing, instead opting to just look at Korra with a gentle smile. She knew what Korra wanted. “Does this mean you need a ride to the shop?”

“That would be preferable.”

“You are unbelievable.” Asami scoffed. Of course Korra would try and rectify this with a small amount of cheekiness, but Asami knew this is not what they needed. Sighing in slight defeat, she nodded. “Sure just let me get dressed.”

Korra watched as Asami stood up from the sofa and stretched slightly. Taking a step closer to Korra, Asami placed a light kiss on her forehead before humming to herself. “When we get home I want us to talk about this a bit more. No shouting, no arguing or stupid accusations. Just two adults talking calmly.”

“I think that will be best.”

Korra admitted as she watched Asami walk from the living room, she had to admit even though what she was wearing belonged to Mako, they made her look very sexy. The way the shorts clung around Asami’s ass and showed off her pale, soft legs that seemed to go on forever really turned Korra on.

“ _Wow, I am a pervert.”_  Half of Korra wanted to throw her girlfriend on Mako’s bed and ravish her, but the other half kindly reminded her that she was cramping and Asami was still upset.

“But I love it.” Asami called from the other room which made Korra smile with pride and slight embarrassment.

“Stop learning my language!” Korra laughed out jokingly.

* * *

 

Pulling up onto a drive and switching off the ignition, Korra looked over at Asami with a smile. She had been learning to drive for the last couple of months and she was finally feeling confident, however Korra still felt a need for confirmation.

Smiling back Asami placed a light kiss on Korra’s forehead. “You are doing much better.”

“Really?” Korra’s mouth turned up into a crooked smile.

“Yes…I mean you still need to work on your clutch work but yeah, not too bad.”

Looking out the window, Asami looked at a small sign advertising puppies for sale leaning against a nearby barn. Noticing Asami’s body slump back in the passenger seat, Korra placed a gentle hand on her thigh. “Asami, are you sure you want to do this? I know we agreed but you can still back down. I won’t be mad.”

Turning back to her girlfriend and gazing into her partially sad blue eyes, Asami shook her head. “No I do want to do this; it’s just a little scary that’s all.”

“Well how about we put this in perspective, how scary is this compared to when you saw me crash?”

With a sly smirk, Asami removed her seatbelt before opening the car door. “Oh this is far more scary…” Korra pouted for a moment before she watched Asami remove herself from the car only to fall when the car suddenly jutted forward.

“KORRA!” Asami screamed out as she forced herself back on her feet. “You forgot to put on the handbrake!”

Looking down at the small handle by her side, Korra laughed in worry before pulling the handbrake up. “Sorry Asami…do you want to drive back? Since you know we will have a puppy in the back?”

Brushing down her jeans, Asami nodded. “Perhaps that will be best. Now come on, let’s go get Naga.”

* * *

 

“Okay, how does this work?” Asami asked Korra as she stared at this tiny white wolfdog pup, which was busy chewing on one of Korra’s shoes.

“Uh…Okay, I am going to try something.” Getting down on her knees towards their new puppy, Korra smiled sweetly at her. “Naga…” She said calmly, catching the dog’s attention. “Sit.”

Cocking her head, Naga looked at Korra then up at Asami before moving over to the taller woman, sitting on her shoe. Raising an eyebrow Asami looked at her girlfriend, her hands gesturing wildly at the puppy that was slowly falling asleep on her foot.

“What? I told her to sit.”

Asami couldn’t help but shake her head in despair.

The couple had only had Naga a couple of weeks but they became the most exhausting couple of weeks in their lives. Naga was a very lively and loving puppy but her mental capacity to listen was far from large. Instead of doing what either woman had commanded her to do, she would simply sit on them and either fall asleep or slobber everywhere.

Korra was actually quite fond of how animated and loving Naga was, but Asami was fonder of sleeping Naga because for her there were only so many times she could take finding drool in her favourite pair of boots.

* * *

 

“Naga!” Asami almost shouted out as she stormed through the loft from the bathroom.

A larger Naga and a lazy Korra – who had both been chilling on the sofa watching the summer games – looked at each other in slight worry. “Oh girl, what did you do now?”

With a slight whimper, Naga tucked her nose under Korra’s arm trying to hide from the angry engineer. When Asami was finally stood in front of the two girls, Korra couldn’t hold back her laugh. Asami was stood with her hair wrapped in a towel and her body wrapped with a bathrobe that had a large bite taken from the left breast.

“Korra this is not funny. She ruined my favourite robe.”

Moving Naga off her lap, Korra moved over to her girlfriend before wrapping her arms around her waist – her eyes not moving from the hardened nipple that was poking through the hole. “Hmm, I think it is much better like this.”

Asami couldn’t stay mad at Korra, especially when her lips brushed her neck. The taller woman would have quite happily let Korra have her way with her until she heard a shuffle and slight sneeze from behind them. Glancing over at the sofa sat Naga who was rolling around on her back with her tongue hanging out.

Looking back to her girlfriend, Asami brushed her fingers through her growing brown hair. “What do you say we send Naga to Mako for the evening and have some time for ourselves?”

“Really?” Korra almost squeaked out when she felt a hand wander under the band of her boxers.

“Yes really…we can have a nice dinner, a shower and sex on the terrace.”

With a quick movement, Korra turned to their puppy with a happy smile. “Naga, guess what!”

Naga’s head cocked up.

“You’re getting to see Uncle Mako.”

Naga whined and moved to bury her head under the nearest pillow.

“Bolin will be there too…” Korra added and laughed as Naga’s tail started to wag vigorously.


	9. Chapter 9

A few months after extensive research and trials, the couple flew to Korra’s hometown to test out the new snowboard prototype somewhere other than a boring indoor slope. They classed it as a working holiday, but as Asami’s eyes wandered down to Korra’s pert ass that was perfectly held by her boarding pants, she knew the working side would probably not be that productive.

“So how does it feel?” Asami mumbled out.

Looking down at the board, Korra smiled as she pulled up her goggles. “Not too bad, still a bit wobbly on my inside turns but I’m not 100% sure if that is to do with the board or my technique.”

Taking out her notebook, Asami started to scribble a few notes while Korra removed one foot from her bindings. “How are the edges? You had some concerns with them before.”

Pushing forward with one foot, Korra came closer to Asami. “Much better.” Wrapping her arms around Asami’s waist, Korra smirked. “So, what do you say we go to the snowpark? I’ll teach you some tricks and I can really see how this board does.”

Asami stopped writing and looked into Korra’s eyes with worry. “Korra, are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure, I want to test this board and myself out properly.” Korra pulled Asami closer. “Plus you’ve never seen me do tricks and I guarantee you will find it positively arousing.”

“Will I now?”

Korra just hummed confirmation as she leant in to kiss Asami, only to have their helmets crash together. With a few chuckles, the couple stood back before giving each other gentle smiles. Taking Asami’s hand, Korra smiled. “Come on, pull me to the lift.”

“You have your foot free from the binding.”

“I know, but this way is more fun.”

Rolling her eyes, Asami flicked Korra’s partially burnt nose before skiing away. “Come on two-tone, you can get to the lift yourself.”

“Hey, it’s called snow–sexy, not two-tone!” Pulling out her phone, Korra turned on the front facing camera before mumbling to herself. “Wow, I really am two-toned, damn ski tan.”

Once at the snowpark Korra gave Asami basic safety tips before allowing her to try out some simple jumps. Standing on the side, Korra watched as Asami pointed her skis down towards a medium jump with her knees slightly bent. Gripping tighter onto poles the taller woman exhaled, she knew the jump wasn’t high but it still involved her leaving the snow which scared her slightly.

“Come on Asami, if Korra can do this so can you.” Pushing off she started to move towards the large pile of compact snow. As she came closer to the mass her heart started to thump faster and then it happened, she pushed off through her knees as she reached the tip launching her into the air. It wasn’t high but she still felt her breakfast moving in her stomach before she bent her knees once more and landed.

Quickly turning to a stop, Asami pushed her poles into the snow before pressing her forehead against the handles. “Fuck…” She breathed out before finally standing straight.

“That was great.” Korra called out as she slowly slid over to her girlfriend, a proud smile on her face.

Laughing half-heartedly, Asami shook her head while slowly looking up at Korra. “I think it’s best if you do this. I am better being on the ground at all times.”

Letting out a playful laugh, Korra pressed a kiss on Asami’s cheek. “Alright, well I’ll show you how us snowboarders do it.” Asami couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes before skiing down to the end of the park to watch Korra from a safe distance – she didn’t trust the other skiers and snowboarders in the park.

Taking the pull lift up to the top of the park, Korra locked her free foot back into her binding before jumping up and down slightly. With a quick tug on her brown boarding pants – that kept falling down – Korra sighed and mentally prepared herself. She knew she had a good board on her feet but she still wasn’t sure how good it was for freestyle, nor was she sure how her leg was going to last.

“ _I got this…I have got to do this well, Asami is watching.”_ And then she was gone, speeding down the slope, heading for a box slide. With a quick leap, Korra preformed a simple boardslide before landing soundly. Half of her really wanted to go all out, but the other more sensible half – that had been helped out by Asami – was telling her to use this as a simple try out, she had ages to build herself up.

Doing a fairly sharp over toe turn, Korra headed straight for the largest jump. Crouching down slightly, the boarder waited for the perfect moment to leap and preform her trick. When the feeling of snow under board vanished, Korra bent her knee and grabbed her board. It was nothing more than a method grab but it put enough strain on her leg to remind her of her injuries.

With a few inches left Korra let go of her board and prepared for landing. The sudden jolt from the floor caused pain rushing through her leg and up her spine, she tried to keep control but it was too late, her dominant leg had already taken over forcing the tip of her board to go into the snow.

Letting out a shocked yell, Korra watched as the snow appeared in her field of vision, followed by a jolt on her arm and the view of the sky.

“Korra!” Asami called out, quickly removing her skis so she could run over to her girlfriend who was laid flat on her back. Exhaling, Korra pushed up her goggles and laughed as a worried Asami came closer. “Korra, are you okay?”

Pushing herself upright, the brunette gave her girlfriend a goofy smile. “I have never been better.”

Running her gloved hands over Korra’s soft cheeks, Asami looked worried. “Are you sure? Are you hurt?”

“Oh yeah, my leg hurts like a bitch but I feel fucking brilliant.”

“Did you hit your head?” Asami asked, moving back slightly in confusion.

Laughing, Korra shook her head and gave Asami a quick kiss. “Possibly, but I’m fine.”

“Alright, well we better get you home to relax.”

For a moment Korra pouted, not wanting to leave the slope but when she saw the worry and slight anger in her girlfriend’s eyes the boarder knew it wasn’t wise to argue.

* * *

 

Leaning against the threshold of the garage at Korra’s family home, Asami watched as her girlfriend worked hard on her board, dripping wax against its underside. Gripping tighter on the cup on tea in her hand she smiled and walked forward. “Having fun?”

Putting down the wax and small iron, Korra looked over her shoulder to see Asami slowly walking over with tea in her hand and a swagger in her hip. Leaning back in the chair, the boarder smiled. “Of course, because waxing my board is always so thrilling.”

Laughing at her girlfriend’s sarcasm Asami gave her the cup of tea before perching on the edge of a nearby workbench. Breathing against the tea Korra couldn’t help but watch and smile at Asami, her hair was damp and tied up loosely, while her body was clothed in a simple pair of sweatpants and a thick jumper with a polar bear on the front. Pointing at the jumper the brunette smirked. “Isn’t that mine?”

Looking down at the blue item Asami laughed and nodded. “It is.”

“Does that mean I am never going to get it back? Like my other jumpers.”

Shrugging, Asami leant over to Korra and pressed her lips against her cheek. “This is what happens when you live with a woman, your clothes get borrowed.”

“Borrowed…” Korra mumbled before taking a sip of her tea.

Before allowing Korra to mumble any further, Asami changed the subject. “So how’s your leg?”

With a proud smile, Korra swung her leg before wincing slightly in pain. “Not bad,” she managed to mumble out with slight pain in her voice.

“I don’t want to put a downer on everything, but do you think you’ll be strong enough to board anything other than recreational?” Asami asked while her gentle eyes scanned over Korra who seemed to have stiffened as the words entered her ears.

“I – I don’t know…maybe.” With a sigh Korra put down her cup of tea and picked up a small piece of plastic which she ran across the board, removing excess wax. “I was thinking the same but I don’t want that to be the case. I want to do everything I can to be able to go back to normal, and that includes more freestyle boarding.”

Running her hand across the shoulder of her girlfriend, Asami gave it a slight squeeze. “Do you think altering the board will help?”

“No…” Looking up into Asami’s pale green eyes, Korra smiled. “But perhaps if I changed the way I board.”

Asami said nothing at first, just thought for a few moments before swiftly moving away from where she had been sitting. Rummaging across the workbench, the engineer searched for a pen and piece of paper before throwing them on Korra’s board.

Cocking her head, the boarder watched as Asami frantically drew a simple sketch of Korra boarding. “Right, I need you to tell me where you feel most pain and when.”

Taking the pen from Asami, Korra drew a circle from her weaker hip followed by a line down her thigh. “I feel most pain there when landing and going over basic bumps.”

“And you board fairly ridged don’t you?”

Korra shrugged. “I guess, yeah, why?”

Running her hand across Korra’s cheek, Asami smirked and gave her a quick kiss. “I think I know what you might need to do.”

Raising her eyebrow, Korra looked over her girlfriends shoulder as she took the pen and started to write a series of equations next to the drawing of Korra. “Uh – what are you doing?”

“I am finding a way to make you board like a pro again.” Asami paused for a moment – pushing the end on the pen against her lip. “You better go Skype Naga, this might take a while.”

* * *

 

“Don’t forget the lower down you are and the looser your body is the less pain you will feel.”

Looking up from her board with a raised eyebrow, Korra questioned her girlfriend. “Are you sure?”

At first Asami said nothing, choosing to pull her girlfriends jacket zip a little higher before shrugging. “No, but worth a try.”

“ _I must really be in love if I am taking boarding advice from a non-boarder._ ” Korra said out-loud while rolling her eyes. She loved Asami with all her little quirks and smarts, but at times her need to act like she knows everything did irritate the boarder a little.

Placing her hands on Korra’s shoulders, Asami gave a strained smile. “This non-boarder has a better understanding of physics and human anatomy than her boarding girlfriend.  _She has also learnt her girlfriend’s mother-tongue_ ,  _remember_?” Asami finished off in Korra’s language before pressing a light kiss on her cheek.

Feeling a little small about being caught out for saying bad things about her girlfriend, Korra smiled sweetly. “I love you…” Asami did make her feel slightly dumb again, but she was right, Korra didn’t know about physics and things to know what technically should be the right way for her to board. But still she had made a mental note on talking to Asami about it later.

“Yeah yeah yeah, now stop stalling.” Asami laughed out, giving Korra’s ribs a little nudge.

Giving her girlfriend a quick kiss, Korra shuffled herself closer to the entrance of the park. Shrugging her shoulders to loosen them, the boarder smiled at herself while repeating what Asami had explained to her.

Slamming her hands against her helmet Korra grunted before finally pushing herself off, lining up towards a series of rollers. The way her body was weighted over her feet felt off and slightly unnatural but it wasn’t too bad.

Coming towards a small jump Korra shifted her weight but instead of gliding over the top nicely, she dug too far into the compacted snow, throwing up over her board and onto her back.

“KORRA!”

Throwing up a thumbs-up, the brunette laughed. “I’m fine.”

* * *

 

“KORRA?”

Pushing herself off from the floor and spitting out snow, Korra laughed again. “I’m fine.”

* * *

 

“Oh shit, Korra?”

Waving her hand Korra sighed. “Fine.”

* * *

 

“Korra?”

“Fine.” Korra grunted, throwing off her helmet.

* * *

 

“Korra…”

Groaning, Korra nodded. “I’m fine.”

* * *

 

Rolling herself off from her front, Korra threw her arm up in the air – pointing at the running Asami – and shouted. “I swear Asami, if you call out my name one more time I will hit you with a snowball.”

Stopping from her quick walk, Asami bit her lip. “Sorry…are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” She spat out while unbuckling her feet from her board. “I just don’t think I am going to get it, it’s fucking impossible.”

Crouching down and running her hand across the back of her girlfriend, Asami smiled sweetly. “Korra you have only been doing this for a day, it will take time.”

“But how much time?” Korra almost shouted out while slamming her hands against her face.

“I don’t know Korra, I don’t know.”

Biting down on her lip, Korra tried her hardest to hold back tears. Noticing this look of defeat, Asami pressed her forehead against her girlfriends. “Come on honey, let’s go back home, have a bath and try this again tomorrow.”

“Bath?” Korra said quietly in a low voice. “Together?”

Gripping the front of her girlfriend’s jacket, Asami nodded. “If that’s what you want.” Without hesitation the couple kissed deeply on the slope, their tongues sliding against each other.

For a moment they forgot about where they were and everyone around them, for a moment, until a nearby snowboarder sprayed them with a wave of snow. With a screech, Korra leapt back and without thinking shouted out, “Kuvira!”

With a confused look, the snowboarder shrugged his shoulders before sliding away to his group of friends, all of which were laughing. Biting her lip and pulling her head towards her shoulders, Korra looked over to Asami who looked both shocked and confused. “Asami I’m sorry…”

Brushing her fingers across Korra’s cheeks – which were starting to redden – Asami smiled slightly. “No no no Korra its fine…sometimes I forget that you are still mentally affected by what happened. You never have to apologise for saying her name.” Sticking her tongue out slightly, Asami lowered her voice. “Unless you say it during sex.”

“Now that would never happen.” Korra laughed out, pressing a quick peck on her girlfriend’s cheek. “ _Come on, I really want that bath and see your wet naked body covered with soap.”_

“ _Pervert._ ”

“ _But you love it._ ”

“ _Nope._ ”

“ _What?_ ”

“ _I’m joking Korra.”_

“ _Oh thank the Spirits._ ”

* * *

 

Leaning her head back into the crook of her neck – her pinned up hair tickling Korra’s skin – Asami smiled contently. The water was warm and soapy and her girlfriend’s soft yet muscular body felt so right against her back, she could have happily lain there all day if it didn’t mean she would become wrinkly.

Lifting her hands from the water, Korra shook them slightly before running her fingers through Asami’s thick, black hair, her nails rubbing against her scalp. Sighing deeply, Asami slid further into the water before resting her arm on Korra’s raised knee. Brushing her fingers across her girlfriend’s smooth dark skin, Asami hummed. “You’ve shaved.”

“I did.” Korra laughed out quietly while her fingers continued to scratch Asami’s scalp.

Asami didn’t reply, just chose to hum again before closing her eyes. Letting a loud yawn the engineer mumbled something that Korra didn’t quite catch. “What did you say?” She asked, pressing her lips against Asami’s head.

“I said – ” Asami yawned again. “I thought you wanted sex.”

“Darling you are half asleep, I think no sex tonight.” Moving her hands down to her girlfriend’s arms, Korra gave them a light rub before kissing the top of her head. “Come on sweetie, time for bed.”

It took twenty minutes but eventually Korra had gotten Asami out of the bed, dried, into her pyjamas and into bed. Settling under the covers, Korra snuggled up behind her girlfriend, pulling her into her arms.

Sighing, Asami closed her eyes once again as she felt safe in Korra’s arms. “You smell so nice.” She mumbled before moving back closer until Korra’s chest pressed against her back. “Like snow.”

“Snow has a smell?” Korra laughed out in question.

“Yeah…like coldness, but pure and fresh…lovely.” Asami yawned out before her body started to slump.

Once she was sure Asami had fully fallen asleep, Korra pulled herself carefully out from under the covers and made her way into the kitchen. It was only ten in the evening and Korra was used to having a little snack at that time of night.

Sitting up on the kitchen counter the boarder sat eating a large cookie – laughing at the memory of Asami putting a whole large cookie in her mouth. “Why so glum?”

Looking up to see her mother walking in with an empty mug, Korra smiled. “Nothing, I’ve just been thinking.” With a quick glance to her bedroom door, Korra changed language and lowered her voice. “ _I’ve been thinking about racing again.”_

 _“Racing? But…”_ Putting the mug in the sink, Senna sat next to her daughter with a concerned look on her face. “ _Korra, are you sure? You seemed extremely upset and in pain after boarding today._ ”

“ _I know but I miss it so much and even if I don’t become good enough to compete in high competitions I want to at least try. Especially with how much Asami is helping me.”_

Half of Senna wanted to smile at how Korra was smiling and blushing, but she couldn’t help but worry. She never wanted her daughter to feel like she owed anyone.  _“Korra, you do know that despite how much you love Asami you don’t owe her anything right? I don’t want you to do this if you are doing it just for her.”_

 _“No mom, I’m not doing it just for her.”_ Korra looked up at her bedroom door before smiling brighter and looking down to the floor. All she could think about was the third challenge Asami gave her.  _“I am doing this for us both.”_

_“Well if you are sure.”_

_“I’m sure, I’m more than sure.”_

With a nod and a smile, Senna jumped off the worktop before giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek.  _“Alright, well goodnight.”_

_“Goodnight.”_

_“Don’t leave Asami alone for too long.”_

_“I won’t.”_  Korra waited for the sound of her parent’s bedroom to close before finally removing herself from the worktop. Walking along the corridor, Korra stopped in front of her door and ran her fingers across the brass handle.

 _“I have two years until the next games.”_ She mumbled to herself before finally entering her dark bedroom to cuddle up to Asami.


	10. Chapter 10

“Alright folks today I can promise you this is going to be a final to remember. Not only do we have the best boarders from the four Nations we also have the legendary Korra!” A loud cheer makes Korra smile before she looks over to the other athletes.

Putting out her fist, the boarders give each other a fist-bump before wishing each other good luck and going to their starting gates. “After four years Korra has come out of retirement to prove that serious injury means nothing in this sport, because when you are a boarder the snow is all that matters!” The crowd goes wild once again and Korra does all she can this time to keep to sound from affecting her focus.

“Come on Korra, focus.” Asami mutters to herself as she wraps her arms around her body and looks up to the live coverage board – all while trying to ignore Naga attempting to get up onto the barriers. Looking down at giant white wolfdog, Asami does all she can to get her to sit down. “Naga, down.”

Naga twitches her ears and whimpers slightly, and that just melts Asami’s heart. With a deep sigh and her fingers gripping the bridge of her nose, Asami moves back allowing Naga to stand between her and the barrier. “Fine, but if I hear you bark once I am having Mako look after you for the weekend.”

With a gentle whimper, Naga places her head and paws on the padded barrier before her tail starts to wag violently. Asami can’t but laugh, Naga always oddly reminds her of Korra. What was it that they say, dogs start becoming like their owners?

Taking her hand, Asami playfully rubs Naga’s head while smiling enough to make her look slightly crazy – hiding her worry is harder than she expected. She knows Korra is more than capable of boarding but the last time she was here she watched as her – at the time – friend was seriously injured. “She can do this, can’t she girl?”

Naga says nothing, just yawns and sneezes.

* * *

 

Taking a deep breath, Korra brushes her gloved hand against the Earth Kingdom badge sewn onto her shoulder before gripping the vertical bars, she might be competing for the Water Nation but it felt right to have the badge. First beep, Korra crouches down, taking in another deep breath. It had been four years since she was last here. Glancing to her left is a Fire Nation snowboarder, not Kuvira and to her right another girl from the Water Nation – her friend and teammate – not Opal.

Second beep, Korra’s grip increases on the bars and she feels a slight tug of pain on her arm. “This is for you Kuvira.”

Final beep, gates drop and she is gone in a blur of blue and white. She had four years...four years of pain, hardships, panic attacks and arguments. Grunting with each roller, Korra can’t help but smile, she is in so much pain but she is still here. But more importantly Korra had four years of support and love. A chance to rebuild herself back up from nothing, to become stronger, smarter, faster. In the four years she was away from competing she helped Asami redesign a new snowboard, she taught herself a new style of boarding – lower to the ground, less knee movement – to create less muscle stress and improve speed. It was almost like she was a new Korra. A woman her family could be proud of and aspiring boarders could look up to. Taking a bank slightly wide Korra loses the lead for a moment before gaining it back on the landing of a jump. But more importantly – pushing her board forward she crossed the finishing line – she was able to forgive and thank Kuvira for what happened.

Stopping at the end, Korra congratulates the other three athletes with strong hugs and bright praises before glancing over at Asami with a chuffed smile. With a nod of acknowledgment, Korra removes her board, walks past Asami and Naga and goes towards the award stand. When her name is called she fights back tears as her medal is placed across her neck and the crowd goes wild.

Running her fingers across the medal, Korra continues to try to hold back tears; the last thing she wants to do is to cry hysterically on national television. “Korra, Korra.” The boarder looks over at a reporter with a pleased smile. “Tell me Korra, what is it like winning gold after so many years of hardship?”

“It could possibly be the second best thing to have happened to me…depending on a certain answer.”

“Answer? What answer?”

Looking away from the camera, Korra looks into the crowd until she sees Asami trying to make Naga come down from the barriers. Putting her hand out, Korra smiles and calls her girlfriend to come join her. At first Asami is reluctant but the crowd quickly pushes her forward while a member of the camera crew is given the unenviable task of keeping Naga back.

Taking her girlfriends hands, Korra gives them a gentle squeeze. “Asami…

“Korra?” Asami starts to feel nervous when she watches Korra pull off a glove with her teeth before dropping to her knee – wincing slightly – and pulling out a small but beautifully formed ring from her pocket. “Oh Spirits…” Asami thought she was going to faint for a moment, especially when the crowd turned silent minus a few sparse gasps.

“Asami, I remember when I first saw you on the stand of the opening ceremony four years ago and I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Then I met you the next day and I found you quite irritating.” Asami rolls her eyes and the crowd chuckle lightly.

“But it is because of you I am here. Over the last four years you have been my best friend, my rock, the girl to keep me calm during the dark nights and the girl who is never afraid of telling me how it is… Despite us only knowing each other for four years out of our 25 year life I feel like you have always been by my side and I do not want to lose that. So Asami Sato, will you marry me?”

Asami bites her lip and flicks her hair back. “Well I did say if you won I would consider it.”

“So will you?”

At first Asami doesn’t answer, instead opting to jump against Korra, pushing her against the floor before almost squealing in her ear. “Of course I will.”

The crowd erupts into cheers as the couple cuddles and kisses on the snow. Both women feel their hearts grow and their love deepen, they will finally be together forever.

When they finally pull away from each others liips, Korra is suddenly hit the face with a handful of the cold snow. Brushing the snow away, Korra looks up to see Asami smirking with a snowball in her hand.

Moving herself into a crouching position, the boarder laughs deeply while scooping some snow into her own weapon. “Oh you are so dead.”

And with that the camera no longer captures the smiles of an engaged couple but the squeals of two friends in a snow war with over 300 others, turning the view into nothing but a fun-filled blizzard.


End file.
